Brad Imes to vie for IFL heavyweight belt on May 16

The Ultimate Fighter 2 runner-up Brad Imes will step up to face champion Roy Nelson in an IFL heavyweight title bout on May 16 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Imes (11-4), who entered the picture when Nelson's original opponent Branden Lee Hinkle pulled out due to injury, will be making his IFL debut. The Miletich Fighting Systems product has won six out of his last seven bouts since exiting the UFC after a loss to Heath Herring. As a heavyweight who stands at six-feet-seven, Imes has opened eyes by finishing two of those six wins by gogoplata submission.

Since the departure of Ben Rothwell, Nelson (12-2) has emerged as the face of the heavyweight division in the IFL. The 32-year-old is 5-1 in the IFL, with his sole loss a split decision to Rothwell.

Leben Out, Day In For Bisping at UFC 85

Middleweight Jason Day (17-5 MMA, 1-0), who defeated Alan Belcher as a late replacement last month at UFC 83, will now replace Chris Leben and fight Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) at London's UFC 85.

The UFC today revealed the June 7 bout, which will remain on the televised main card of the pay-per-view event.

Leben was recently sentenced to 35 days in jail due to a probation violating stemming from a 2005 DUI arrest. He would have been released just two weeks before the event.

Leben had hoped to transfer his probation in 2007 after moving from Oregon to Hawaii for a teaching position at T. Jay Thompson's ICON Fitness facility. However, the request was denied, and a bench warrant was issued when Leben went ahead with the move. Leben, who voluntarily turned himself into Clackamas County Sheriff's Department early last week, was optimistic that he'd be released during his hearing on Thursday and granted his visa, but he was instead sentenced to further jail time.

In his place steps Day, who replaced an injured Patrick Cote and scored a first-round TKO upset of rising contender Alan Belcher on April 19. He'll go for his sixth straight victory when he meets Bisping, who most recently defeated Charles McCarthy via first-round TKO at UFC 83.

This fight could be a bad matchup for Bisping. Even though he's an unknown, Jason Day is a superb fighter and has defeated UFC vets Jonathan Goulet, and David Loiseau. This fight won't have the star power it would if it were Leben fighting but it shouldn't be any less exciting.

Chris Leben gets 35 days in jail

UFC middleweight Chris Leben was sentenced today to 35 days in jail for violating his parole from a DUI arrest 3 years ago.

Leben, who now resides in Hawaii, flew back to Oregon and surrendered himself to authorities last Wednesday in an effort to remove an old warrant. It was the only way for Leben to obtain a VISA to leave the country for his June 7 fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 85 in London.

The UFC will make an announcement soon on whether Leben will remain on the card with less preparation time or to remove him entirely from the event.

IFL Getting Desperate

It was well understood but not reported that the IFL had been struggling. While the IFL affiliates had been preaching how great the fighting league has been, it was no secret that the writing was on the wall. I had no real proof but wrote a post about 2.5 months ago about their horrible marketing strategies that were going to bite them. Well I had some proof, the loss of their prime time slot was a dead giveaway and also predictable.

Sure enough, to no one's surprise, the company is in deep struggles.

In order to combat their losses they've decided to change things up a bit. The IFL will switch from a four-sided ring to a six-sided ring dubbed "The Hex" when the league returns to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 15.

IFL CEO Jay Larkin said the reason for the change was to expand the size of the fighting surface while still keeping the use of a ring.

The new surface will go into effect in the fourth event of the 2008 season, which follows the May 16 event at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

However, after the 2008-09 season, no one is sure if the IFL will be in existence.

UFC Making More Cuts and Who Knows When They'll Stop

The UFC has cut former UFC lightweight contender Din Thomas (22-8 MMA, 5-4 UFC), "The Ultimate Fighter 6" runner-up Tommy Speer (9-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) and Shooto veteran Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) from its roster of fighters.

The three fighters are the latest casualties as the UFC continues to cut its roster by a reported 25 percent.

Thomas, 31, made his octagon debut in 2001 as a highly touted prospect with a 10-1 record. Victories over UFC champ Jens Pulver and veteran Japanese fighter Dokonjonosuke Mishima earned him a UFC contract, but he eventually left the organization in early 2003. He'd return, via a "comeback" fourth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and re-emerged as a contender after consecutive victories over Rich Clementi, Clay Guida and Jeremy Stephens.

However, Thomas suffered a significant knee injury in a main event loss to Kenny Florian, and he then dropped a unanimous decision to Josh Neer earlier this month. According to the report, he is considering whether to retire or continue fighting outside the organization. Despite rumors he has not been assigned to the WEC, the UFC's sister organization, but he does plan to move to 145 pounds.

Speer, 23, excelled on the sixth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" but suffered a first-round submission to Mac Danzig at the show's live finale. He subsequently suffered a devestating 51-second knockout to Anthony Johnson last month at UFC Fight Night 13.

Hironaka, 31, made his octagon debut at UFC 64 and took top welterweight contender Jon Fitch to a decision in a loss. He bounced back for a decision victory over Forrest Petz but has since suffered second-round TKOs to Thiago Alves and Jonathan Goulet.

Other fighters dropped from their UFC contracts over the past month include Joe Doerksen, Travis Lutter, Charles McCarthy, Jake O'Brien and Kalib Starnes. Additionally, numerous cast members from "The Ultimate Fighter 6" were cut earlier this year, and the majority of cast members from the current season of "TUF" will be released from the organization next month.

UFC officials have recently stated that they want to trim the roster to assure fighters can be scheduled more frequently and to avoid long layoffs between fights.