UFC 90 Weigh In's

Here are the results for last night's weigh ins

Middleweight champ Anderson Silva (184) vs. Patrick Cote (183)
Thiago Alves (171) vs. Josh Koscheck (170)
Junior dos Santos (234) vs. Fabricio Werdum (256)
Tyson Griffin (155) vs. Sean Sherk (156)
Rich Clementi (156) vs. Gray Maynard (155)
Thales Leites (186) vs. Drew McFedries (186)
Spencer Fisher (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156)
Matt Horwich (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Marcus Aurelio (156) vs. Hermes Franca (156)
Pete Sell (170) vs. Josh Burkman (171)

Josh Burkman originally weighed in at 173, but was given an hour to cut the extra two pounds and managed it within the time limits.

The event takes place tonight in Illinois.

Fedor versus Arlovski Set For January 24th

Affliction have announced that the Fedor Emelianenko - Andre Arlovski fight will take place on January 24th.

This move comes after Fedor's manager announced that he will not be fighting on New Years Eve as he usually does. This will leave him with plenty of time to prepare for the fight with Arlovski, which is a fight that fans have been anticipating for a long time.

Also named as participants on the card are Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland, Vitor Belfort, Vladimir Matyushenko, Jay Hieron, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Chris Horodecki. No match ups have been mentioned as yet.

Antonio Silva Fails Drug Appeal

Former Elite XC fighter Antonio Silva has failed his appeal to have his drug suspension overturned.

Silva was suspended after his July 26th fight with Justin Eilers for the vacant Elite XC Heavyweight title. The steriod in question was Boldenone, a steroid developed for vetinary use, primarily used on horses. This is not the first instance of a sports star using the drug, however.

Silva has always maintained his innocence in this matter, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as his suspension was upheld unanimously by the members of the commission.

Silva was banned from fighting for a year from the date of his last fight, and was fined $2,500. He will be allowed to return to fighting in July next year, but as Elite XC no longer exists, he will be looking for a new home.

Elite XC Folds

As many people have previously predicted, Elite XC and Pro Elite have ceased operations.

This has not been officially confirmed by Elite XC, but has been said in a post on a website by Graciefighter.com. Graciefighter have fighters on their roster who were employed by Elite XC, such as Nick Diaz, so there is some credibility to the rumor.

The company is said to have lost over $55 million since it began in 2006. Elite XC's CBS shows made them no money as the costs and revenues were picked up by CBS.

I will bring you more info on this story as it breaks.

UFC 89 Results and Bonuses

UFC 89 went off on Saturday without a hitch, and included some very exciting fights.

Here are the results for the card:

Michael Bisping defeated Chris Leben via Unanimous Decision

Keith Jardine defeated Brandon Vera via Split Decision

Luiz Cane defeated Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO (Strikes) in Round 2

Chris Lytle defeated Paul Taylor via Split Decision

Marcus Davis defeated Paul Kelly via Rear Naked Choke in Round 2

Dan Hardy defeated Akihiro Gono via Split Decision

Shane Carwin defeated Neil Wain via TKO (strikes) in Round 1
David Bielkheden defeated Jess Liaudin via Unanimous Decision
Terry Etim defeated Sam Stout via Unanimous Decision

Jim Miller def. David Baron via Rear Naked Choke in Round 3

Per Eklund def. Sammy Schiavo via Rear Naked Choke in Round 3

Here are the bonuses:

There is some confusion about the Submission of the night bonus, which may have gone to Jim Miller, or may have gone to Marcus Davis. Miller was announced on the official broadcast as gaining the honor, but there have been reports of Davis being awarded it instead. We will clarify this as soon as we can.

The knock out of the night went to Luiz Arthur Cane for his second round TKO of Rameau Thierry Sokodjou.

Fight of the night honors were awarded to Chris Lytle and Paul Taylor, who fought to a split decision in a very exciting slug fest, with Lylte being awarded the win. Both fighters recieved the bonus for this honor.

All bonuses were worth $40,000.

Micheal Bisping Confirmed As TUF 9 Coach

The Ultimate Fighter 9 is set to be a USA versus England event, and Micheal Bisping has been named as the first coach for the show.

No opponent coach has been named as yet, but rumors are circulating of either Rich Franklin or Dan Henderson. Neither fighter has confirmed this, although Franklin's manager has stated that whilst Rich has not yet been approached, it is something they would consider.

Bisping will take on this role regardless of the outcome of his fight with Chris Leben in Birmingham, England tonight.

UFC 89 Weigh In Results

UFC 89 takes place tomorrow night in Birmingham, England. Headlining the event is Michael Bisping versus Chris Leben, and there are many exciting fights featuring up and coming British fighters, including the UFC debut of Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy.

Here are the results of the weigh ins

Michael Bisping (185) vs. Chris Leben (186)
Keith Jardine (205) vs. Brandon Vera (203)
Luiz Cane (206) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (205)
Chris Lytle (170) vs. Paul Taylor (170)
Marcus Davis (169) vs. Paul Kelly (169)
Akihiro Gono (171) vs. Dan Hardy (169)
Shane Carwin (264) vs. Neil Wain (254)
David Bielkheden (156) vs. Jess Liaudin (155)
Terry Etim (155) vs. Sam Stout (155)
David Baron (155) vs. Jim Miller (155)
Sammy Schiavo (156) vs. Per Eklund (156)

Fighting Fedor TV Show

M-1 Global and Affliction have announced plans for a TV show, Fighting Fedor.

The show will work in a similar fashion to The Ultimate Fighter, with fighters training and fighting to win the opportunity to fight Fedor Emelianenko. The fighters will train at the Red Devils gym in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Here are the details that have been released so far:

The show begins filming in June 2009, and 15 episodes will be produced. The series will be taped in St. Petersburg, Russia, which is home to Emelianenko's Red Devil club.
Based on the production schedule, the earliest possible debut date for the series will be June 2009.
Emelianenko will be part of the group that screens potential contestants; their decisions will be based on the "athletic ability... character and marketability" of each fighter, according to today's press release.
The fighters will be recruited from all over the world.
In order to produce the series, Affliction and M-1 have renewed an existing partnership. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Trump, who's had success with his own reality series, "The Apprentice," will be in Russia for portions of the taping.

Koscheck To Fight At UFC 90 And UFN 16

Josh Koscheck has today announced that he will endeavor to fight at both UFC 90 and UFN 16.

There are a lot of variables which will affect these plans, the main one being whether Koscheck comes out of his fight against Thiago Alves unharmed. In the event of an injury or medical suspension, he will be unable to fight Yoshiyuki Yoshida on December 10th, just 6 weeks later.

Koscheck is serving as a last minute replacement against Thiago Alves next weekend, after Diego Sanchez pulled out of the co main event due to injury.

Helio Gracie Turns 95!

Just a short note to say congratulations to Helio Gracie who celebrated his 95th birthday on October 1st.

Helio is one of the founders of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and has made a profound impact on the MMA world, by introducing his son Royce to the sport.

To celebrate this historical moment, his sons Royler, Rolker and Rickson prepared a birthday cake for the Master at Gracie Humaita gym, at Rio de Janeiro.

Congratulations Helio!

Carano vs Cyborg In The Works For February

In an interview with a Brazilian website, Cris "Cyborg" Santos has commented on the possibility of a fight with Gina Carano.

According to Cyborg, Elite XC have offered her a date of February when she would face Carano, although it is unclear whether the title would be on the line.

Here is what Cyborg had to say about the fight:

“I think it’ll be in February, and it’ll be cool. Everybody wanna see this fight, we both fight on the last event and won, and it’ll be great. I’ll keep my Muay Thai like I did in my last fights. I’ll stand with her, and I think she likes it too, so why not? It’ll be a huge fight and someone is going down. They didn’t say if it’s going to be for the belt, but I think it’ll be”.

UFC Trading Card Deal Signed

UFC President Dana White has announced that the UFC has signed a deal with Topps Trading Cards to produce a series of UFC trading cards.

These cards will feature past and present fighters, and future ones as they emerge onto the scene. Topps are the leading brand in trading cards.

Here is what Dana White had to say:

"We are excited to be working with Topps to showcase our incredible athletes on UFC trading cards. We look forward to having great success with Topps, and to giving UFC fans a product they can collect and trade with other fans of our sport.”

Elite XC Heat Medical Suspensions

The Florida State Athletic Commission have announced a list of medical suspensions from their "Heat" event on CBS last weekend.

The suspensions are as follows:

James Edson Berto was suspended for 30 days following his TKO loss to Conor Heun.

Murilo “Ninja” Rua was suspended indefinitely by the commission following his knockout loss to Benji Radach. (This means he will need to be cleared by a doctor before he can fight again)

Roy Nelson was suspended for 60 days following his TKO loss to Andrei Arlovski.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was suspended for 30 days after his 14-second TKO loss to Seth Petruzelli.

* Ken Shamrock was not suspended by the commission regardless of his cut, as he didn't actually fight on the card.

A Night Of Combat II Medical Suspensions

A Night Of Combat II took place on October 10th at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am a little late reporting on this event, for which I appologise.

The results for the event are as follows:

Ryan Hass defeated Ian Omalza via Submission (Armbar) in Round 1
Elena Reid defeated Stephanie Palmer via TKO in Round 1
Patrick Gonsalves defeated Shawn David via Submission (Kimura) in Round 2
Jonathan Mix defeated John Halverson via TKO in Round 1
Josh Haynes defeated Sean Salmon via Submission (Achilles Lock) in Round 2
John Alessio defeated Gideon Ray via TKO in Round 1
Mike Pyle defeated Brian Gassaway via Submission (Armbar) in Round 1
Jay Hieron defeated Chris Kennedy via Unanimous Decision

Hector Ramirez defeated Rick Roufus via Unanimous Decision

The following fighters received medical suspensions:

Chris Kennedy suspended until Dec. 11 with no contact until Nov. 26 due to facial lacerations.

Gideon Ray suspended until April 10th due to possible right orbital fracture. If cleared by doctor, suspended until November 26th with no contact until November 11th.

Sean Salmon suspended until Nov. 11 with no contact until Nov. 2 (for precautionary reasons)

Jacob "JJ" Mix suspended until April 10th due to right hand injury. If cleared by a doctor, suspended until November 26th with no contact until November 11th.

Shawn David suspended until Dec. 11 with no contact until Nov. 26 due to a left-cheek laceration.

Stephanie Palmer suspended until April 10th due to possible jaw fractureIf cleared by a doctor, suspended until November 26th with no contact until November 11th.

UPDATE: Ken And Frank Shamrock Date Announced

As MMATrivia previously reported, Ken and Frank Shamrock have signed a contract to fight each other, although no date or promoter had been announced (see original story here: http://mmatrivia.blogspot.com/2008/10/shamrock-brothers-sign-contract.html)

The brothers are looking at fighting in March or April of next year, according to Frank Shamrock. They are considering Elite XC and Affliction as promoters, under some kind of cross promotion, and want the show to be aired on Pay per View or Primetime.

Here is what Frank had to say on the matter, including some rather derogatory comments about his brother:

"We are definitely going to see it happen; it’s a done deal. I’ve just got to get his old ass into the cage now. Now he’s so old he can’t even get in the cage.

“We finally got it done and we’re looking forward to March or April for kicking it off, try to get him a wheel chair so he can get himself into that cage next time.”

Top Tier Fighter Added To Sengoku 6

World Victory Road have announced the addition of Takanori Gomi to their Sengoku 6 card.

Gomi will face Sergey Golyaev at the Saitama Super Arena on November 3rd. He joins Josh Barnett as one of the biggest names on the card so far.

Here is the card as it currently stands:

Josh Barnett vs. TBA
Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal vs. Fabio Silva
Sergey Golyaev vs. Takanori Gomi
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Jorge Santiago
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Yuki Sasaki
Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi
Mizuto Hirota vs. Kazunori Yokota
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Bang Seung Hwan vs. Jorge Masvidal

UFC Secures Japanese TV Deal

UFC President Dana White has announced that the UFC have secured a two year deal with a major Japanese TV Station.

The station has agreed to show UFC events for the next two years, after the success of the shows they aired from 2001-2007.

Dana White had this to say:

"The Japanese market has always been important to the UFC, and we want to bring MMA and all of its biggest stars back to Japan. We are thrilled to be back with WOWOW."

Joe Doerksen Added To Sengoku 6

Former UFC fighter Joe Doerksen has been added to the World Victory Road Sengoku 6 card, to take on Japanese fighter Izuru Takeuchi.

The event takes place on November 1st a the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The event wil be headlined by Josh Barnett against an unnamed opponent.

Here is the full card for the event:

Josh Barnett vs. TBA
Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal vs. TBA
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Jorge Santiago
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Yuki Sasaki
Bang Seung Hwan vs. Jorge Masvidal
Mizuto Hirota vs. Kazunori Yokota
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi

Diego Out, Koscheck In At UFC 90

Diego Sanchez has been pulled from his UFC 90 bout with Thiago Alves due to injury.

Sanchez is suffering from damaged ribs, which were originally thought to be a ruptured spleen. No expected recovery time has been announced.

Josh Koscheck will serve as a replacement for this fight. Koscheck was expected to fight on the "Fight for the Troops" card in December, but has been bumped forward at short notice for this fight. It is unknown whether he will still fight in December.

The event takes place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on October 25th.

The Face of Women's MMA

I have recently written an article about Women's MMA, which I would like fans to read if they have the time.

I can't publish the article here, because the site that it is published on have exclusive rights to it, but please follow the link below. Any comments that you wish to post would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.sportales.com/Martial-Arts/The-Face-of-Womens-MMA.291191