EliteXC Signs Phil Baroni to Multi-Year Deal

Outspoken middleweight fighter Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni (10-8) has signed a non-exclusive, multi-year deal with EliteXC. ProElite, Inc., the parent company of EliteXC, today made the announcement.

Baroni will make his EliteXC debut at the organization’s March 15 event, which is co-promoted by ICON Sport, according to today’s press release. The 31 year old will face Kala Kolohe Hose for the vacant Icon Sport Title. 'Ruthless' Robbie Lawler has been stripped of the title because of injuries, opening up a great opportunity for Baroni to capture the title. Lawler failed to make title defenses on 3 separate occasions, thus forcing the company to strip him of the title.

Additionally, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though EliteXC confirmed that Baroni will be allowed to continue fighting for Strikeforce, with whom he’s currently signed to a multi-fight deal.

"You know any Jersey boy like me likes a New York badass, and Phil’s definitely as bad as they come", EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw stated in today’s press release. "Phil is a promoter’s dream. He’s a character but also as courageous a fighter as I’ve been around. But what I truly love about him is he always comes not only to fight but to win and put on a show. He’s a crowd-pleaser extraordinaire."

Baroni, a former UFC and PRIDE fighter, most recently suffered a second-round submission to rival Frank Shamrock at a June 2007 Strikeforce/EliteXC show. In a drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission, the Long Island native tested positive for Boldenone and Stanozolol steroid Metabolites. He was fined $2,500 and suspended a year. Baroni denied taking banned substances and filed an appealed. The CSAC later reduced the suspension to six months.

EliteXC 'Street Certified' Full Card

Saturday’s event features a headline bout between heavyweight Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and David “Tank” Abbott, as well as a main-card fight between heavyweights Antonio Silva and Ricco Rodriguez.

The event takes place at the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center. The main card airs on Showtime beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and the preliminary card airs on ProElite.com beginning ay 7:30 p.m. ET.

Despite just one professional MMA bout, Slice earned headliner status for next week’s event thanks largely to the fame he developed as a backyard brawler. His fights were recorded and have been widely distributed on the Internet. The former bodyguard and stand-out high school football player now trains with retired MMA trailblazer Bas Rutten.

The 42-year-old Abbott appeared in UFC events from UFC 6 to UFC 45 while making stops in PRIDE, Rumble on the Rock, and other organizations. The fan favorite has had little success as of late, though, going 1-7 in his past eight fights and 3-10 in his past 13.

Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett was added to the tentative schedule early in the event’s planning but has since been removed. EliteXC hasn’t given a reason, but Bennett’s January arrest following a domestic dispute — one of a couple dozen lifetime arrests — could have something to do with it.

MAIN CARD

Tank Abbott (9-13) vs. Kimbo Slice (1-0)
Ricco Rodriguez (27-7) vs. Antonio Silva (9-1)
Kyle Noke (13-4-1) vs. Scott Smith (14-4)
Yves Edwards (32-13-1) vs. Edson Berto (13-4-1)
Brett Roges (7-0) vs. James Thompson (14-7)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Rafael Feijao (4-1) vs. John Doyle (6-2)
Jon Kirk (10-2) vs. Yosmany Cabezas (4-0)
Dave Herman (9-0) vs. Mario Rinaldi (6-2)
Eric Bradley (2-1) vs. Mikey Gomez (6-3)
Mike Berhard (3-0) vs. Lorenzo Borgameo (2-0)

YAMMA Pit Fighting Books Don Frye vs. Oleg Taktarov for April 11

The following was reported by www.mmajunkie.com

The upstart YAMMA Pit Fighting organization, which was recently founded by UFC creator Bob Meyrowitz, has booked a fight between UFC pioneers Don Frye (18-6-1) and Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov (15-5-2).

According to Frye, the fight will take place at the organization’s inaguaral show, which is set for April 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.

“I hope (YAMMA) made the announcement because I just signed to fight Oleg Taktarov,” Frye said.

The Frye vs. Taktarov bout will be a “Master’s Fight” that will supplement an eight-man heavyweight tournament also planned for the event. The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has tentatively approved the tournament using a modified system of rules that call for shorter rounds and between-fight medical examinations.Details of the upstart YPF organization first surfaced early last week, though there were few to speak of. Other than promising a “revolutionary” fighting surface that will alter the way fighters compete in MMA, as well as confirming that the organization will bring back tournament-style events that were popular in MMA’s early days, YAMMA executives released few details.

Frye competed in some of the earliest UFC events, where tournament formats required winning fighters to compete more than once per night. He was the tournament winner of UFC 8, as well as the Ultimate Ultimate 96 (“UFC 11.5”) event that took place in 1996. The former Arizona State University wrestler has competed in the UFC, PRIDE, K-1, King of the Cage and other top organizations. The 42-year-old fighter last fought at PRIDE 34 and suffered a first-round TKO to James Thompson.

Taktarov made his MMA debut at UFC 5 and won the UFC 6 tournament, thanks to his background in Sambo and Judo. The 40-year-old Russian quit competing in 1998 for 10 years before returning this past November for a BodogFIGHT victory over John Marsh.

Can Couture vs. Emelianenko Live up to the Hype??

This was a post I wrote on January 28th but it bears repeating. You can also click on the original post in the sidebar to see the great comments that were made in regards to this topic. More comments are welcome, especially in this case.

The mess that has ensued because promotions are not putting together Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko is growing by the day. The main question is will this fight, if it takes place, ever live up to the hype it's receiving?

Couture says that defeating Fedor is the very last accomplishment he wants to achieve in his fighting career. This fight won't take place any time soon which means that Couture could possibly be 45 years old when they fight. Laws of nature will eventually catch up to him. There's no way to delay it any longer. He can train all he wants but age sneaks up on you like a...um...well something that sneaks up on someone.

Do we want to see a 45 year old man fighting the most dangerous man on the planet? Ok I know we should never doubt Couture but c'mon, at his age reflexes aren't as sharp, balance and stability aren't what they once were. Don't forget, this guy was fed his cake by Chuck Liddell twice not too long ago and now there's talk of Liddell not being what he once was.

While it's extremely impressive that Couture came out of retirement and won the heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia, it was only Tim Sylvia. Think about it, Tim Sylvia said he wasn't going to use it as an excuse but he did have a legitimate back injury which required surgery so he clearly wasn't 100%. Not to mention, the consensus says Tim Sylvia sucks.

So Randy Couture defeated an injured Tim Sylvia and then took on Gabriel Gonzaga, whom he TKO'd in the 3rd round to retain his title. Gonzaga had just come off knocking Cro Cop's head off to earn the right to face Couture. Then we see Gonzaga in his fight against Fabricio Werdum and he stunk up the joint.

So Couture beat two average fighters and now he's supposed to conquer Fedor. I don't want to say this but given the opponents, maybe Couture isn't that great and this fight shouldn't get the hype it's getting.

Fedor hasn't fought any real competition in about a year and it's looking like he still won't. A comment was written by 'God of Thunder' regarding the heavyweight division and he ended it with, "I wanna see Couture vs. Fedor!"

Well this fight needs to happen yesterday before it loses every bit of lust it's attained. But while I know not to doubt Randy Couture, I don't see how this fight can live up to its billing. If and when it does happen, don't say I didn't warn you of a disappointment.

Dear Dana White: Sincerely, Fedor Emelianenko

Saying he will no longer permit Dana White to disparage him, former PRIDE heavyweight champion and famed Russian fighter Fedor Emelianenko has fired back and penned an open letter to the UFC’s head president and challenged him to allow a fight with UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture or interim champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Ever since the UFC tried — and failed — to sign Emelianenko, White has continually blasted Emelianenko, questioning his fighting ability, world ranking and his quality of opponents. In an October 2007 press conference, White even went as far as saying that Emelianenko “sucks” and that “Fedor isn’t even a top-five heavyweight let alone (ranked) top pound-for-pound (fighter)."

The 31-year-old Emelianenko, who held the PRIDE Fighting Championships’ heavyweight belt for more than four years before the organization’s eventual demise this past summer, is a career 27-1. Although he’s defeated some of the most notable fighters in the sport, he hasn't fought a top tier guy in quite some time. His last competitive fight was almost a year ago against Matt Lindland who, at 185, was doing quite well against Fedor when he went for a takedown, Fedor grabbed the ropes (illegal), the ref didn't see it and Fedor landed on Lindland in the mount position. When Fedor assumes the mount position it's all but over and that's what happened.

Emelianenko recently turned down an offer to fight exclusively for the UFC, saying the contract was too restrictive, and instead signed with the recently restructured M-1 Global organization. Fedor, while under contract to fight, still competes regularly in Sambo tournaments and a contract with the UFC prohibits competing in other organizations.

However, he still wants to challenge the UFC’s best, including Couture, who resigned from the organization in October for what he perceived to be a lack of respect from UFC executives, as well as the UFC’s inability to sign Emelianenko, whom he wants to fight before retiring.

As Emelianenko wrote (keep in mind it’s been translated by a third party):

Numerous times have I read mister White’s statements on Internet concerning myself. In my opinion, allowing yourself to say those things is not a sign of a gentleman or a grown man at all! If he candidly wants to prove himself right then let my fight with Randy happen or let me face the reigning UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In the future I wouldn’t want to hear those statements in my address ever again and I won’t tolerate that.

My last fight in Japan proved that I’m ready to fight anybody with any height advantage, skillset or experience. I have fought and still wish to fight the best athletes. The Randy fight is my goal number one right now, he’s a great fighter and this is a very unfortunate situation when too strict and one-sided UFC contracts don’t let this fight happen.

The whole world is eager to see me fight your champions, people don’t want to listen to your press-conferences. I’m signed with M-1 Global and this promotion is ready to organize such fights under our banner or in co-promoted events.

Tim Sylvia Says Move to M-1 Global Possible

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, riled by the fact that UFC newcomer and former World Wrestling Enterainment performer Brock Lesnar earned a bigger base salary than he did at this past weekend’s UFC 81 event, is hinting he may depart the UFC after his next fight.

Sylvia, who looked solid in a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the UFC’s interim heavyweight title this past Saturday, recently left a posting on his official website forum at tim-sylvia.com hinting that M-1 Global could be his next home.

M-1 Global is run by Monte Cox, Sylvia’s agent.

“I have one fight left on my contract,” Sylvia wrote (and cleaned up for publication). “I want to stay with the UFC, but I am going to go were the money is. Right now Brock is making more money than me. That has to change. I have a better name than him, and I am a better fighter than him."

“In case you didn’t know, my manager runs (M-1 Global), so I have a pretty good in, so we will see what happens in the next few months,” Sylvia wrote.

Sylvia has made no secret of what he perceives to be a lack of respect from UFC officials. Back in May he told NBCSports.com, “I’m used to the UFC kicking me around. It’s happened since the beginning, and it’s never stopped."

M-1 Global signed Fedor Emelianenko back in October to a long term deal and has been looking for a true heavyweight for him to compete against. Sylvia could be that guy that gets the heavyweight division up and running.

He has a valid point but is absolutely crazy to think that he's got a better name than Brock Lesnar. If you polled 100 different people on the street, I would bet that at least 50 of them heard of Brock Lesnar yet probably 10 people know Tim Sylvia. Look, the guy has never turned down a fight, has fought injured, and is now one of many to bash the UFC's treatment to fighters but losing Tim Sylvia is not the end of the world. The heavyweight division needs him, but will continue on fine without him.

UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2 Sells Out

The first UFC event in Canada has become the fastest to sell out in UFC history.

The UFC has confirmed that tickets for UFC 83 have all been sold out Thursday, five days after they were first made available to UFC Fight Club members. The UFC is expecting over 21,000 fans to pack the Bell Centre in Montreal when Matt Serra defends his welterweight championship against Georges St. Pierre on Saturday, April 19.

"Most of the tickets for UFC 83 were sold in the first 24 hours of our UFC Fight Club presale, and the rest were gone within one minute of the public on-sale today," UFC President Dana White said in a statement. "I’m excited to say that this event is a sellout, and the fastest one in UFC history, so it’s safe to say we definitely will be back in Canada after this inaugural event."

Tentative UFC 83 CARD:

170 lbs: Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre
185 lbs: Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin
185 lbs: Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
185 lbs: Charles McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping
185 lbs. Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote
155 lbs: Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
185 lbs: Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen
155 lbs: Sam Stout vs. Rich Clementi
170 lbs: Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet

Ultimate Fight Night 13 info

Fightlinker has launched a petition to convince SpikeTV to make UFC Fight Night 13 into a 3-hour broadcast, and they're reaching out to folks like us to spreadawareness. It's a good cause, so if you care about seeing as much of the super-stackedcard as possible, e-mail.

Send the following message to: feedback@spike.com

SUBJECT: UFC Fight Night on April 2nd

To whom it may concern:

I'm writing to ask that the UFC Fight Night on April 2nd be given three hoursof time instead of two. The card is one of the best UFC cards ever put on Spike,and it deserves a longer time slot. The entire fight community is looking forwardto seeing this event, and I am sure you'll have a significantly higher numberof viewers if you decide to show more of the card.

Thank you for your time
[your name]

Another Fight Added to EliteXC Undercard

Next week’s EliteXC event has a new undercard bout: John Doyle (6-2) vs. former IFL fighter Rafael Feijao (4-1).

The Feb. 16 fight will take place at light heavyweight. “EliteXC presents Street Certified” is set for the University of Miami’s UnitedBank Center and airs on Showtime. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson meets veteran brawler David “Tank” Abbott in the night’s main event, and Antonio Silva takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez in a main-card bout.

With the Doyle vs. Feijao bout, the latest fight card now includes:

Tank Abbott vs. Kimbo Slice
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Silva
Kyle Noke vs. Scott Smith
Brett Roges vs. James Thompson
Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto
Dave Herman vs. Mario Rinaldi
John Doyle vs. Rafael Feijao

Couture Talks About Lawsuit

The following was reported on www.mmaweekly.com

When Randy Couture walked to the cage behind Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle last Friday, he may have thrown more gas on a legal fire that flared up last month.

Couture cornered Pyle, a welterweight in the inner circle of his Las Vegas gym, for “Destiny,” a promotion of Canada’s Hardcore Championship Fighting. According to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, that’s one of the places he crossed the line.

Amongst other charges, a lawsuit filed against Couture on Jan. 11 accuses him of breaching a series of clauses in his employment contract. By supporting Pyle, he was violating an agreement that prevented him from “promoting or producing events or programming related to unarmed combat, developing products or services related to unarmed combat, or otherwise conducting any business relating to unarmed combat.”

“It’s unfortunate that things have kind of degraded to that point,” Couture said.

The suit seeks damages “in excess of $10,000” for these infractions, but if the proceeding drags out in court, lawyers will ultimately win in Couture’s battle with Zuffa, LLC.

“I’m sure that’s part of their ploy, to force me to spend enough money that I’ll have to come back and fight for them, which isn’t the case,” Couture said as throngs of fans and officials clamored for his photo.

Couture signed his contract with Zuffa in Las Vegas on or around Dec. 11, 2006 and resigned from the promotion on Oct. 11 of last year. He’s repeatedly stated that he believes the fight contract is up in July, and may use local government to bolster his case.

“I’ve got a very good team of lawyers. I think we’ll basically have to get a declaration from the state of Nevada on what they interpret the contract as, but the way I see it, the contract is up in July,” he said.

Zuffa also alleges that Couture’s statements on HDNet’s Dec. 15 broadcast of “Reckless” were in breach of his contract, and meant to “maximize the harm inflicted” on the company. Not surprisingly, Couture disagrees.

“They didn’t force me to breach of contract in any way,” he said. “I simply stated the position I’m in as far as fighting, which is to wait my fight contract out, find a way to make the Fedor fight happen myself.”

Meanwhile, Couture said the UFC has tried to retaliate against him and his fighters.

“Like trying to ban my clothing line, and things like that that don’t really hurt me, they just hurt the athletes that we sponsor,” Couture said. “We sponsor some 35 athletes with that clothing line, and give back to the sport in every way we can. We’re already in Nordstrom’s and Macy’s and all the big outlets, so it just takes away from money that the athletes are getting from their sponsorships. It’s kind of stupid.”

No court date has been set for the proceeding, but Couture will soon have to commute by phone with his legal team. In April, he begins principal photography for his next film project, “Mandrake,” in China.

“I’m not worried about clearing my name, I haven’t done anything wrong,” he stated. “I’m simply wanting to pursue the profession that I’m in, which is fighting. And they’re trying to prevent me from doing that, so you tell me who’s wrong or right?”

Belcher Set to Fight Cote at UFC 83

Alan Belcher (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who had to pull out of this past weekend’s UFC 81 event with bronchitis, will take on Patrick Cote (12-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at an April 19 UFC 83 event at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

UFC President White confirmed that Cote will be part of the fight card during Monday’s UFC 83 press conference, which was attended by UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and interim champ (and French-Canadian) Georges St. Pierre, who meet in the night’s main event.

Belcher was supposed to fight Ricardo Almeida at this past weekends UFC 81 event, but he had to pull out of the televised fight on just three days’ notice.

“I am still under the weather a bit, and I’m going back to the doctor (today),” Belcher told us. “I still have some deep coughing that you can hear real bad in my chest."

However, he plans for a full recover in time for UFC 83, which will be the first-ever UFC event in Canada.

His opponent, Cote, has drastically improved his stock in the UFC’s middleweight division with recent victories over “The Ultimate Fighter 3” winner Kendall Grove (UFC 74) and hard-hitting Miletich fighter Drew McFedries (UFC Fight Night 12). Cote has now won his past four fights (three were in the UFC), and six of his past seven. Cote began his UFC career with four straight losses and has since posted three consecutive wins.

Belcher, a former light heavyweight, began his UFC career with a 1-2 record. However, he’s since posted back-to-back victories over Sean Salmon and Kalib Starnes. His UFC 77 fight with Starnes appeared to be “Fight of the Night” material, but the bout was stopped a couple minutes into the second round because of a deep gash on Starnes’ forehead. Belcher was credited with the TKO victory.

Matt Lindland Will Not Return to UFC

Both Matt Lindland and Dana White have recently confirmed that the two had tossed around the idea of a Lindland return to the UFC. However after UFC 81 Lindland made it clear that the UFC would not be making him an offer.

“Dana has made it clear they are not going to make me an offer to return to the UFC,” said Lindland. "I feel there are a lot of good fighters in the UFC, and I feel like I could beat most of them."

It would be great to see Lindland back in the UFC and I believe he would be an immediate threat in whatever division he decided to fight in. Who knows why an offer wasn't made but I hope it wasn't Dana White running a dictatorship again.

Sanchez Bumped in Favor of Leben

Diego Sanchez has been bumped from the televised portion of UFC 82 to the preliminary card, along with Andrei Arlovski and Josh Koscheck, in favor of the Chris Leben and Alessio Sakara.

The preliminary card looks better than the main card. The fights have serious implications and it's a shame we won't get to see them.

The full fight card is:

MAIN CARD (Televised)

Champ Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson (for middleweight title)
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson


PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O'Brien
Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Koscheck
David Bielkheden vs. Diego Sanchez
Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

UFC Owners Suing Former Pride Ownership Group

The following was reported by www.mmajunkie.com

PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, which was created after the UFC’s primary owners purchased the former Japanese-based PRIDE Fighting Championships, has filed suit against Dream Stage Entertainment, the organization’s previous ownership group.

The news comes from Dave Meltzer in the print edition of Wrestling Observer.

According to the report, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta claim that Dream Stage Entertainment, Dream Stage Holdings, and DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara defrauded millions of dollars during last year’s sale of PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido.

The UFC’s ownership group first announced its intention to purchase PRIDE in March 2007 and confirmed that the sale — or more specifically, the acquisition of assets such as the PRIDE video library and some (but not all) of the fighters’ contracts — had been finalized two months later.

Originally, UFC President Dana White announced that PRIDE would continue to operate as a separate entity while promising “SuperBowl-type” mega-fights between the two organizations’ biggest stars. “Fans will finally get the match-ups they’ve always wanted,” White said. However, soon after the paperwork was signed, he called the company “a mess” and reasoned that the organization was lucky to be in business given its horrible financial state.

Back in October, all of PRIDE’s former employees were laid off, even though they claim that they had been assured their jobs were safe.

The once-mighty PRIDE had been a sports phenomenon in Japan, but chinks started appearing in the armor when the organization lost its television deal with Fuji TV in 2006, thanks to claims that the organization had ties with the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime group.

PRIDE launched in October 1997 and held a total of 68 shows under the PRIDE and PRIDE Bushido banners. The organization set a still-standing record for an MMA audience when it drew more than 71,000 people to its August 2002 Shockwave/Dynamite show, which was co-promoted by K-1.

Tito Ortiz Blasts Dana White

UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz had some harsh words for UFC President Dana White and hinted that he might eventually start his own fight promotion when he leaves the UFC. Ortiz discussed both topics while a guest on today’s “Howard Stern Show,” which airs on Sirius as satellite radio’s most popular program.

Ortiz said the White is an egotistical egomaniac and wishes to be a fighter and superstar. He states that he has worked so hard for the UFC, fighting in pain, with injuries, risking his career many times and feels he isn't appreciated, saying Dana White is just like Don King.

Ortiz has one more fight left on his contract and is very open that it may be his last fight. He's scheduled to fight Lyoto Machida on May 24th and will test the free agent market after that. He also hinted that he would like to start his own fight promotion.

The UFC makes approximately $43 million for each pay per view, and an additional $5 million at the live gate. These figures don't include merchandise sales at the events. Ortiz says considering how much the UFC is bringing in, the fighters should be better taken care of given the nature of their sport.

Ortiz has a very valid point. I keep saying this but there's a reason so many vets have been speaking out against Dana White. The one thing Ortiz has to remember is it's their choice to be a fighter so in that respect, you have to be thankful that there's a sport to participate in at all. However, it's also a sport that at any given moment, during any fight, their career can be over in a flash so they should be compensated accordingly.

UFC 82 Fight Card

MAIN CARD

Anderson Silva (Champ) vs. Dan Henderson (for middleweight title)
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson
David Bielkheden vs. Diego Sanchez

PRELIMINARY CARD

Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Dustin Hazelett vs. Josh Koscheck
Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson
Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara

UFC Bumps Arlovski - O'Brien to UFC 82 Preliminary Card

A heavyweight fight between Andrei Arlovski (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) and Jake O’Brien (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will not be aired live as part of the UFC 82’s pay-per-view broadcast.

Given the state of the heavyweight division this is a terrible move and could be the final chapter in Arlovski's UFC career.

Arlovski, the UFC’s former heavyweight champion and arguably its biggest star during his reign as a title-holder, is currently on the last fight of his UFC contract, which expires April 15. Rather than sign an extension, he will finish out his contract and then shop the free agent market. Although they haven’t ruled out a return to the UFC, Arlovski and his management team could likely command big money from other organizations such as EliteXC, M-1 Global and HDNet Fights.

So, is his spot on the preliminary card punishment for Arlovski’s decision not to re-sign with the organization? Only the UFC knows for sure. However, keep in mind that Arlovski hasn’t been in an un-televised fight since UFC 40 — which was five years and nine fights ago.

UFC 82 contains a number of main-card-worthy fighters. In addition to Arlovski, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” stand-out Josh Koscheck will also be stuck on UFC 82’s un-televised preliminary card. Koscheck meets Ohio fighter Dustin Hazelett at the event. (With Arlovski and Koscheck relegated to the preliminary card, a fight between Diego Sanchez and David Bielkheden has been placed on the televised main card.)

This is a clear case that the pay-per-view's should show most or all of the scheduled fights. Not just under the condition that the televised fights finished early. also, if this is going to be Arlovski's last UFC fight (which is a possibility), it's a slap in the face if it's not televised.

Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter Set for UFC 83

Rumors of the bout have popped up for weeks, but we can now confirm that former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and “The Ultimate Fighter 4” winner Travis Lutter (9-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will meet at UFC 83, which takes place April 19 at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

The Franklin-Lutter fight will complement UFC 83’s main event, which is a title unification bout between UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and interim champ (and French Canadian) Georges St. Pierre.

The Franklin-Lutter was originally targeted for next month’s UFC 82 event in Columbus, Ohio. However, Franklin, who fights out of Cincinnati as part of Team Jorge Gurgel, recently underwent surgery for a torn meniscus he suffered in his right knee. He was originally expected to be sidelined until June.

The 33-year-old Franklin hasn’t fought since a second-round TKO to Anderson Silva at Cincinnati’s UFC 77 event in October. Franklin initially lost his belt to Silva at UFC 64 in October 2006 but rebounded for victories over Jason MacDonald and Yushin Okami to earn the rematch. Prior to that fight at UFC 77, Franklin signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC that goes into effect for his fight with Lutter.

Lutter hasn’t fought since a UFC 67 main-event loss to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Lutter, who earned the title shot by winning the middleweight division of “The Ultimate Fighter 4’s” comeback season, stunned fans — and UFC officials — when he was unable to get under the 185-pound threshold during weigh-ins. He later admitted that his body simply quit sweating in the final hours of weight cutting. The fight was changed to a three-round non-title bout, and despite a competitive first round, Lutter suffered a submission loss via triangle choke in the second.

Lutter was then supposed to fight Ryan Jensen at UFC 74 in August, but he had to pull out of the bout with a neck injury.

This fight should be outstanding and UFC 83 is looking like another great card.

Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshido in March at WVR

The following was reported at www.mmajunkie.com

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett (20-5) will take on Hidehiko Yoshida (7-5-1) at the upstart World Victory Road organization’s show on March 5.

The event takes place at the Yoyogi First National Gymnasium in Japan. It’ll be the debut show for the organization.

World Victory Road launched in 2007 soon after Zuffa LLC (the UFC’s parent company) purchased — and disbanded — PRIDE. Last week the organization signed highly ranked lightweight fighter and former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi, who will also be a part of the March 5 event.

The 30-year-old Barnett hasn’t competed in more than 13 months, when he dropped a unanimous decision to current UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. Although still generally considered a top-10 heavyweight, he’s lost two of his past three fights, which includes a first-round-stoppage loss to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in September 2006.

Barnett had been one of the sport’s top free agents before his recent signing. During the fall of 2007, though, he and UFC President Dana White exchanged a series of jabs through the media. White claimed that they weren’t going to sign Barnett because “no one cared” about him, which prompted Barnett to assert that White would sign anyone if he thought the fighter could make him money. He wouldn’t deny rumors that he had been in negotiations with the UFC just prior to the exchange.

Barnett made his UFC debut in November 2002, and 15 months later, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in the organization’s history. However, soon after defeating then-champ Randy Couture at UFC 36, Barnett was stripped of the title for testing positive for steroids. He never competed in the UFC again.

The 38-year-old Yoshida has competed only for PRIDE during his five-year career. Like Barnett, the Olympic Judo gold medalist hasn’t competed since PRIDE Shockwave 2006, where he suffered a first-round TKO to James Thompson.

What Did We Learn From UFC 81?

There were a few things that came out of UFC 81 that are worth talking about. The MMA purists are happy that Brock Lesnar lost to Frank Mir. That's their selling point that people can't just walk into this sport and become a champ overnight. The truth is they're right. But you can't argue that Lesnar wasn't putting a beat down on Mir for all but 5 seconds of the 90 second fight.

The loss won't hurt Lesnar at all. He made a rookie mistake and he probably won't make that mistake again. He is only going to get better and I would bet that he will contend someday. The only downside to him losing is that now his aura of invincibility is gone. He had the reputation of a man-beast who probably has most opponents mentally defeated before stepping into the cage. So maybe he loses a little bit of the intimidation factor but he'll gain it back after a couple wins.

It could also mean that Frank Mir is back and ready to contend in the heavyweight division. He is kind of lucky to get out of that fight with a win and without getting hurt. He even stated that he saw 'flashes of light' when Lesnar was dropping elbows on his head. But all of that means nothing because he won the fight and he deserves all the credit in the world right now. No matter how good Brock Lesnar becomes, Mir will always have the distinction of not only wanting to fight him, but handing him his first loss.


Something else we learned is that either Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira isn't that good, or maybe it's finally time to start giving Tim Sylvia some credit because maybe he isn't that bad. Nogueira took a beating for 2 rounds from Sylvia before he finally caught Sylvia in a guillotine and submitted the giant in the 3rd round.

Nogueira was losing both rounds and was getting picked apart by Sylvia's stand up game. Big Nog is an awesome fighter who was ranked as high as 3rd recently.

So as much as I'd hate to admit it, maybe we have to consider Tim Sylvia one of the elite heavyweights when he's healthy. The man, afterall, is 26-4 so he really can't be that bad. I'm not about to start a Tim Sylvia bandwagon but maybe it's time to give this guy a bit of credit. He never backs down from a fight and regardless of how ugly it is, he does win.

Unfortunately, the heavyweight division is still in a state of chaos. It'll be interesting to see Dana White's next move regarding this division.

UFC 81 Re-cap

In his first fight since a July 2007 loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva, Nate Marquardt (26-7-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) looked sharp as he controlled veteran Jeremy Horn (79-17-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) throughout the first round, scoring big punches from inside his opponent’s guard. Marquardt’s only real danger came toward the end of the first round, when Horn secured an arm and nearly forced a tap-out via omoplata.

However, after Horn took him down early in the second round, Marquardt quickly returned to his feet and sunk in a standing guillotine choke. Feeling the effect of choke with the the additional neck crank, Horn was forced to tap out — for only the third time in his past 42 fights (a stretch of seven years).

Although he ended the fight via submission, Marquardt did a lot of damage with his striking. He peppered Horn with a series of punches and then cracked him with a knee to the head halfway through the first round.

For Marquardt, a member of the resilient Team Jackson, it was his sixth win in his past even fights — and a big step toward another shot at the middleweight title.

Ricardo Almeida (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) showed no ill effects from a nearly four-year layoff as he quickly disposed of UFC newcomer Rob Yundt (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

Yundt, a veteran of the Alaskan Fighting Championship, filled in for Alan Belcher (bronchitis) on just three days’ notice, and he just wasn’t prepared for Almedia, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu whiz. Yundt appeared to sting his opponent with an early uppercut, but Almeida threw a body punch and then scored a quick takedown. After whiffing on an elbow strike, Almeida then locked in a guillotine choke. Yundt tried to slam his way out of it — actually doing a full front flip in the process — but Almeida wouldn’t break the hold.

Yundt was forced to tap out just 68 seconds into the first round.

Tyson Griffin (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) pushed the pace and continually looked for the knockout punch, but in the end, he had to settle for the shutout unanimous-decision victory over Gleison Tibau (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC).

Griffin wanted to keep the fight standing, and he used leg and body kicks to tag Tibau to set up punches to the head and body. Tibau continually scored takedowns throughout the fight, but Griffin easily escaped before any damage was done.

Perhaps used to Griffin’s consistent fight-of-the-night performances, the crowd actually booed the decision, prompting the youngster to apologize for the performance — despite winning 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. The victory also snapped Tibau’s three-fight win streak in the UFC.

PRELIMINARY FIGHTS

Longtime fighter and professional boxer Chris Lytle (25-15-5 MMA, 4-7 UFC) made short work of newcomer Kyle Bradley (13-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who managed to fire off just one punch. Lytle countered with a jab and a series of hooks before his opponent tumbled to the canvas for a knockout loss just 33 seconds into the first round.

UFC newcomer and former IFL fighter Tim Boetsch (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made the most of his opportunity in the UFC and delivered fellow light heavyweight David Heath (7-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) his third consecutive loss. Boetsch set the tempo in the first round, showing phenomenal balance as he frustrated Heath with straight kicks and body punches. Eventually, though, he used the Thai clinch and a knee to the face to score the TKO victory at 4:52 of the first round.

One of the sport’s hardest-working men finally got his first UFC win as Chicago-area prison guard Marvin Eastman outscored Terry Martin (16-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC). Expected to be a slugfest, the pace of the fight was at times gruesome as both fighters continually clinched and waited for the referee to separate them. In the end, though, Eastman took it by scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27.

“The Ultimate Fighter 5” cast member Rob Emerson (7-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) registered his first career UFC win by registering a close split-decision victory over Keita Nakamura (14-3-2 MMA, 0-3 UFC). Two refs had it 30-27 for Emerson, and the third had it 29-28 for Nakamura. With his third straight defeat in the UFC, Nakamura is unlikely to compete in the organization again anytime soon.

Mir and Big Nog Thwart Plans

Frank Mir weathered a tremendous storm brought on by Brock Lesnar and submitted the man-beast 1:30 into the first round.

Lesnar stuck to his gameplan which was to take the smaller Mir down and pound him into oblivion. After a couple armbar attempts which Lesnar defended, Mir sunk in a deep knee bar which forced the 2000 NCAA National Champion wrestler to tap.

On a night when his former WWE collegues were in attendence, Lesnar looked poised to do them proud. Kurt Angle, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, and 'The Undertaker' cheered the ex WWE champ on while Lesnar dominated before he got caught.

"I had Brock Lesnar dropping elbows on my head and I still pulled through that and got a submission," Mir said, commenting on the gravity of his win.

“[I have] no excuses,” Lesnar said. “He’s a top-notch Jiu-Jitsu guy, he got me tonight. He’s the better fighter.”

Antonio 'Rodrigo' Nogueira was also in serious trouble as Tim Sylvia was picking him apart for the first 2 rounds when 'Big Nog' caught Sylvia with a guillotine and forced the big man to tap in the 3rd round.

Sylvia did a superb job stuffing Nogueira's attempts to get the fight to the ground and dropped the Brazilian a couple times. Just like in the Mir-Lesnar fight, Nogueira weathered the storm (as he usually does), stayed patient, and caught Sylvia.

He's now the first man to ever hold the Pride and UFC heavyweight Championship Belts.