Carlos Condit avenged a 2009 defeat when he stopped Martin Kampmann in round four of a scheduled five round Welterweight bout at the Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Condit battered Kampmann with a combination of knees and punches and the fight was stopped fifty-four seconds into round four.

Condit, 170.5 lbs is now 29-7. Kampmann, 170 lbs is now 20-7

Rafael Dos Anjos scored a three round unanimous decision over Donald Cerrone in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Dos Anjos, 155.5 lbs and is now 20-6. Cerrone, 156 lbs is 16-7

Court McGee won a three round split decision over Robert Whittaker in a Welterweight bout.

McGee won by scores of 39-27 and 29-28 and is now 16-3. Whittaker won a card by a 30-27 tally but falls to 12-3.

Takeya Mizugaki scored a three round split decision over Erik Perez in a Bantamweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on two cards while a 3rd card read 29-28 for Perez.

Mizugaki, 135 1/2 lbs is now 18-7-2. Perez, 135 1/2 lbs is now 13-5.

Brad Tavares scored a three round unanimous decision over Bubba McDaniel in a Middleweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Tavares, 186 lbs and is now 12-2. McDaniel, 185 lbs is now 21-7.

Dylan Andrews scored a third round stoppage over Papy Abedi in a Middleweight bout.

Andrews landed a hard right that sent Abedi to the ground and he got pounded until the fight was stopped at 1:32 of round three.

Andrews, 185 lbs of Gold Coast, Aus is now 18-5-1. Abedi, 184 1/2 lbs of Stickholm, SWE 9-3.

Brandon Thatch scored a first round stoppage over Justin Edwards in a Welterweight bout.

Thatch landed some thunderous knees and the fight was stopped.

Thatch, 170 lbs is now 10-1. Edwards, 170 lbs is 9-3.

Darren Elkins scored a three round unanimous decision over Hatsu Hioki in a Bantamweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Elkins, 145 lbs of Portage, IN and is now 18-3. Hioki, 146 lbs of Nagoya, JP is now 26-7-2.

Jason High scored a first round choke out over James Head in a Welterweight bout.

High used the guillotine choke and the fight was over at 1:41 of round one.

High, 171 lbs is 18-4. Head, 170 1/2 lbs is 9-4.

Zak Cummings scored a first round choke out over Benny Alloway in a Welterweight bout.

The time was 4:19 of round one for Cummings, 170.5 lbs of Kansas City and is now 16-3. Alloway, 170 lbs of Gulf Coast Australia is 13-6.

Abel Trujillo (10-5) and Roger Bowling (11-4) fought to a controversial no-contest in a lightweight bout.

Bowling had Trujillo in chokes at the end of both round’s one and two. Trujillo reversed the second one and landed two illegal knees that was followed by a devastating right hand that knocked Bowling out at 4:57 of round two.

Martin Kampmann 170 – Carlos Condit 170.5
Abel Trujillo 155 – Roger Bowling 155.5
Benny Alloway 170 – Zak Cummings 170.5
Jason High 171 – James Head 170.5
Hatsu Hioki 146 – Darren Elkins 145
Brandon Thatch 170 – Justin Edwards 170
Pepy Abedi 184.5 – Dylan Andrews 185
Bubba McDaniel 185 – Brad Tavares 186
Erik Perez 135.5 – Takeya Mizugaki 135.5
Robert Whittaker 170.5 – Court McGee 170
Brian Melancon 170 – elvin Gastelum 170
Rafael dos Anjos 155.5 – Donald Cerrone 156

Las Vegas, Nev. – On Wednesday, Sept. 4, history will be made as the Ultimate Fighting Championship®’s long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter®, makes its debut on America’s new sports network, FOX Sports 1. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and No.1 title contender Miesha Tate serve as coaches in the first ever season to feature women as coaches and cast members. The Ultimate Fighter®: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate kicks off with a two-hour premiere beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

In this 18th edition of the series, 16 men and 16 women bantamweight (135 lbs.) fighters will face off in the most challenging sports tournament on television. The premiere episode will determine the eight men and eight women who will successfully move into The Ultimate Fighter house and compete for a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a six-figure contract with the UFC®.

Catch a series preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl0MSMgIW4g&feature=youtu.be

The successful fighters will then be divided into two teams, coached by Rousey and Tate respectively. The series will follow the teams as they live and train together in preparation for their fights. The coaches will then face off in the Octagon® for the women’s bantamweight title on Saturday, Dec. 28, at UFC® 168: WEIDMAN vs. SILVA at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

“This season of The Ultimate Fighter was monumental, as we had women as coaches and competitors – fighting and living together with the men – for the first time ever,” UFC president Dana White said. “Obviously the fierce rivalry between Ronda and Miesha is going to get everyone’s attention, but it doesn’t take away from their dedication and success as coaches and the level of talent this season. One of the things that always makes The Ultimate Fighter great is the fights, and this season continues to deliver. Since we added the women’s division earlier this year, they’ve been putting on awesome fights, and the streak continues on the show, giving the men some serious competition and setting up some Fight-of-the-Night worthy battles.”

“FOX Sports 1 is now the exclusive home of the UFC. To have a show that packs this kind of power and gives our viewers a raw, emotional look into becoming an MMA professional is reality television at it’s best. We can’t wait for the September 4th premiere,” said FOX Sports 1 Co-president Eric Shanks.

The Ultimate Fighter®: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate will anchor FOX Sports 1’s UFC Wednesday block and run for 13 weeks. Each episode’s winners will advance in the single-elimination tournament, which will culminate in a three-hour finale, live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 30. Tickets set to go on sale to the public on October 11.

The list of finalists was trimmed from more than 200 applicants, with the final fighters hailing from the United States, Canada, England, Ireland and Sweden. The competitors are, in alphabetical order (Name, Professional MMA record, Age, Fighting Out Of):

Shayna Baszler (15-8), 33, Sioux Fall, S.D.
Revelina Berto, (3-1), 24, Winter Haven, Fla.
Jessamyn Duke (2-0, 1NC), 27, Richmond, Ky.
Tonya Evinger (11-6), 32, Lake St. Louis, Mo.
Laura Howarth (4-0), 26, Hove, East Essex, ENG
Tara LaRosa (21-3), 35, Albuquerque, N.M.
Valerie Letourneau (4-3), 30, La Prairie, CAN
Bethany Marshall (4-1), 25, Newport News, Va.
Sarah Moras (3-1), 25, Kelowna, CAN
Margaret “Peggy” Morgan (2-0), 33, Nashua, N.H.
Gina Mazany (3-0), 25, Seattle, Wash.
Roxanne Modafferi (15-10), 30, Yokohama, JPN
Julianna Pena (4-2), 24, Spokane, Wash.
Raquel Pennington (3-3), 24, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Jessica Rakoczy (1-3), 36, Las Vegas, Nev.
Colleen Schneider (4-3), 31, Las Vegas, Nev.

Christopher Beal (7-0), 28, Somis, Calif.
Cody Bollinger (14-3), 22, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Louis Fisette (6-1), 23, Winnipeg, CAN
Rafael Freitas (6-0-1), 29, Albuquerque, N.M.
David Grant (8-1), 27, Bishop Auckland, ENG
Tim Gorman (9-2), 30, West Des Moines, Iowa
Anthony Gutierrez (4-0), 22, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Emil Hartsner (4-0), 23, Luberod, SWE
Joshua Hill (9-0), 26, Binbrook, CAN
Chris Holdsworth (4-0), 25, Woodland Hills, Calif.
Patrick Holohan (9-0-1), 25, Dublin, IRL
Sirwan Kakai (9-1), 23, Coconut Creek, Fla.
Daniel Martinez (18-4), 28, San Diego, Calif.
Matthew Munsey (4-1), 26, Hollywood, Fla.
Lee Sandmeier (9-0), 30, Knoxville, Iowa
Michael Wootten (6-0), 24, Liverpool, ENG

Many of today’s most recognizable names in the UFC have emerged from The Ultimate Fighter series, which also produced champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra and season winners Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and Nate Diaz.

For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit ultimatefighter.com and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter under our new name @TUFonFS1 or on Facebook.com/TUF.

###

The Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. In 2012, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, moving to FOX Sports 1 in September 2013.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with nearly 2.4 million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs and video games, UFC FIT®, an in-home fitness and nutrition program, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club® affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

FOX Sports 1
FOX Sports 1 is a new national 24-hour multi-sport channel launching on August 17 and boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. The channel has eight pillar sports: college basketball and football, MLB (in 2014), NASCAR, NFL (ancillary programs), USGA events including the U.S. Open (2015), soccer and UFC. College football is highlighted by regular season coverage of Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA games, while the college basketball spotlight shines on the Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA and the Big East men’s basketball tournament. Starting in 2014, select MLB League Championship Series and Division Series games as well as regular season games are coming to the channel. FOX Sports 1 also carries select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events beginning in 2015; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race; and all Speedweeks coverage, including Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona, (2014, 2017-22) the Budweiser Duel, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions. Additionally, FOX Sports 1 carries NASCAR RACEDAY, NASCAR VICTORY LANE and RACE HUB shows. The channel also carries the world’s most prolific club soccer competitions, like UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and CONCACAF Champions League, along with the world’s oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; plus CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, EURO 2016 Qualifiers; 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers; FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022. In addition to Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards, Wednesday nights are home to the UFC with UFC TONIGHT, live events and THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER. In Feb. 2014, FOX Sports 1 partners with The Jockey Club for newly created package of nationally televised races featuring the leading horses in the country. FOX SPORTS LIVE is FOX Sports 1’s flagship 24/7 news, opinion and highlights program, providing around the clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information rich ticker. Original programs include: FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, CROWD GOES WILD, a new live sports entertainment talk show hosted by Regis Philbin; and the groundbreaking BEING: documentary franchise. For more information visit www.FOXSports.com/FOXSports1.

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighter®, The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s® long-running reality series, which launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and produced champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra and season winners including Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and Nate Diaz, will be holding tryouts for its 19th season in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Middleweight (185lbs) and light heavyweight (205lbs) fighters are invited to attend the season 19 casting on Tuesday, August 27, ahead of Wednesday night’s UFC® FIGHT NIGHT: CONDIT vs. KAMPMANN 2, also in Indiana.

Middleweights were most recently featured on season 17, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, where Kelvin Gastellum emerged the winner; while light heavyweights were last featured on season 8, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir, with the victory captured by Ryan Bader.

This September, the series moves to its new home on FOX Sports 1 with the two-hour season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, featuring UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and fierce rival Miesha Tate, set to air Wednesday, September 4 at 11 PM ET.

The Ultimate Fighter 19 candidates must be between 21 and 34 years old, be able to legally live and work in the United States, have a minimum of three professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights, and hold a verifiable winning record. Applications, which should be completed and brought to the tryouts, can be found online at http://www.ufc.com/tuf19. Tryout details are provided below:

Where:
The Westin Indianapolis
50 S Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204
*Tryouts will be held in the CAPITOL ROOM

When:
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Registration begins at 7:00AM
Tryouts begin at 9:00 AM.

Fighters will be required to grapple & hit pads. Please bring appropriate gear.

Applicants will be notified at the end of the tryouts if they have been selected to advance in the selection process. Successful candidates will be required to be present at final casting in Las Vegas on September 2, 2013.

Questions can be directed to: tufcasting@ufc.com.
###

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. In 2012, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, moving to FOX Sports 1 in September 2013.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with nearly 2.4 million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs and video games, UFC FIT®, an in-home fitness and nutrition program, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club® affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

Demetrious Johnson retained the UFC Flyweight title with a fifth round submission over Jon Moraga at the Key Arena in Seattle.

Johnson made Moraga tap out with a Kimora Armbar just 1:17 before the final bell.

Johnson, 124.5 lbs of Parkland, WA is now 18-2-1. Moraga, 125 lbs of Phoenix, AZ is now 13-2.

In a lackluster three round Welterweight bout, Rory Macdonald scored a unanimous decision over Jake Ellenberger.

Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Macdonald, 170 1/2 lbs of Montreal ans is now 15-1. Ellenberger, 171 lbs of Lake Forrest, CA is now 29-7.

Robbie Lawler scored a second round stoppage over Bobby Volker when Lawler landed a vicious left kick to the head.

The time was for Lawler, 170 1/2 lbs of Coconut Creek, FL and is now 21-9-1. Volker, 170 lbs of Kansas City is now 24-10

Liz Carmouche scored a second round stoppage over Jessica Andrade in a scheduled three round Bantamweight bout.

Carmouche git Andrade on the ground and landed seven consecutive shots while Andrade was prone on the ground and the bout was stopped at 3:57 of round two.

Carmouche, 136 lbs of San Diego is now 8-3. Andrade, 134 lbs of Brazil is now 9-3.

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization returns to FUEL TV tomorrow with what UFC president Dana White called one of the best televised cards of the year.

All 22 fighters have weighed-in, and are ready to fight tomorrow.

Emanating from the Capital FM Arena in the historic City of Nottingham, England, the FUEL TV televised event features six sick fights including a heavyweight eliminator, a clash between a hometown hero and an Ultimate Fighter winner, an all-British welterweight battle, a bantamweight clash between a top five contender and an exciting talent looking to make a name for himself, an undefeated lightweight prodigy taking on a four-time ‘fight of the night’ winner, plus, a throwdown between two ‘bombs away’ welterweight punchers.

“If you don’t think this is a great card – you know nothing about mixed martial arts because this card is awesome,” said White. “The main event between Struve and Miocic is awesome and the winner of this fight becomes a top five heavyweight. These are the fights you have to win to get the world title – and it should be a great fight. These two have gone to a decision only once each – it could be the fight of the night. But I could say that about all the fights, though. You could throw a dart at the card and hit the fight of the night. Dan Hardy always, always brings it, and so does Amir Sadollah. That should be great too, especially with Dan fighting in front of his hometown fans.

“John Hathaway vs John Maguire should be sick, too. Both of them are right there looking to break into the top of the welterweight division – and whenever you’ve got two Brits fighting it always seems to wind up a great fight. And when have you ever seen Brad Pickett (who fights Yves Jabouin at bantamweight) in a bad fight? Paul Sass has huge potential, and he’s fighting a tough guy in Matt Wiman. Plus, Che Mills and Duane Ludwig are going to throw bombs. Top to bottom, this is a fight fan’s card – and it’s free on FUEL TV.”

Full weigh-in results for tomorrow’s big card live on FUEL TV:

FUEL TV Main Card, live coverage begins 12noon PT, 3pm ET

Heavyweights: Stefan Struve (251 lbs) vs. Stipe Miocic (239 lbs)

Welterweights: Dan Hardy (169 lbs) vs Amir Sadollah (169 lbs)

Welterweight: John Hathaway (169 lbs) vs John Maguire (169 lbs)

Bantamweights: Brad Pickett (135 lbs) vs Yves Jabouin (136 lbs)

Lightweights: Paul Sass (156 lbs) vs Matt Wiman (156 lbs)

Welterweight: Che Mills (170 lbs) vs Duane Ludwig (169 lbs)

FACEBOOK undercard

Featherweights: Jason Young (145 lbs) vs. Robbie Peralta (144 lbs)

Catchweight: DaMarques Johnson (183 lbs) vs. Gunnar Nelson (175 lbs)

Middleweights: Tom Watson (186 lbs) vs. Brad Tavares (185 lbs)

Featherweight: Andy Ogle (144 lbs) vs. Akira Corassani (144 lbs)

Light Heavyweight: Kyle Kingsbury (204 lbs) vs. Jimi Manuwa (204 lbs)

Also, tonight, the third episode of The Ultimate Fighter Friday airs on FX in the US at 10pm E/P, where one fighter engages in noisy late night activities – creating enemies on both teams. Plus, Coach Carwin announces his first match-up, sending two more welterweights into the Octagon for the second preliminary fight.

TUF video preview:

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

Las Vegas, Nevada – UFC® welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has scored nine consecutive victories en route to a five-year dominant reign atop the 170-pound division. On Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the champion returns to his hometown after a 17-month absence due to injury looking to unify the welterweight title against dangerous striker Carlos Condit.

“One of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, Georges St-Pierre, is coming home to Montreal to defend not only his pound-for-pound standing, but his welterweight world title,” UFC® President Dana White said.

“St-Pierre has been off for over a year recovering from knee surgery and now has to face his toughest test in interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, who won the interim championship by defeating Nick Diaz while GSP was injured. So on Nov. 17, in Montreal, Canada, it’s champion vs. champion to see who will leave the undisputed UFC welterweight king!”

Boasting six defenses of his welterweight belt, the dynamic St-Pierre (22-2) has established a historic and unrivaled reign of the welterweight division. Now he faces his toughest threat to date in former WEC® and current UFC interim welterweight champion, Carlos Condit (28-5). Having routed his last five opponents on his road toward a shot against St-Pierre, the tactical Condit has shown he has the elusive footwork and pin point striking to silence the critics and dethrone the seemingly insurmountable St-Pierre.

“I’m excited to finally get back in the Octagon and reclaim my spot as the UFC welterweight champion,” St-Pierre said. “Carlos Condit is a very tough opponent. He has really good striking and very good submission skills. I respect him a lot and look forward to fighting him in front of my hometown fans in Montreal.”

An equally eager Condit said: “This is the fight the fans have been waiting so long to see. I still have not realized my goal of being the UFC welterweight champion, and to do that, I need to defeat Georges and unify the belt. I’ve worked my entire career for this fight, and I am excited it is finally happening.”

Also, Johny Hendricks (13-1, fighting out of Dallas, Texas) meets Denmark native Martin Kampmann (20-5, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) in a compelling welterweight co-main event with title implications. As the only fighter to defeat interim champion Carlos Condit in the UFC, Kampmann feels a win over Hendricks will put him at the top of the 170-pound division.

Fresh off a pair of wins over former welterweight title challengers Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, the hard-hitting Hendricks is confident of his standing in the welterweight class and looks to add a fifth consecutive win to his impressive streak on Nov. 17.

In addition to Montreal’s Georges St-Pierre, eight other Canadians will step into the Octagon® on Nov. 17 as Thamesford, Ontario’s Mark Hominick returns against Pablo Garza (12-3, fighting out of Fargo, N.D.), Rimouski, Quebec’s Patrick Cote (18-8) faces middleweight Alessio Sakara (19-9, fighting out of Miami, Fla.), Toronto’s Mark Bocek (12-1) battles lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos (17-6, fighting out of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil), Montreal’s John Makdessi (9-2) takes on London, Ontario’s Sam Stout (19-7-1), Calgary’s Nick Ring (13-1) faces middleweight Constantinos Philippou (11-2, fighting out of Long Island, N.Y.), Montreal’s Ivan Menjivar (24-8) takes on bantamweight Azamat Gashimov (7-1, fighting out of Fairfield, N.J.), and Oshawa, Ontario’s native Antonio Carvalho (14-5) will challenge featherweight Rodrigo Damm (10-5, fighting out of Vila Velha, Brazil).

Tickets for UFC® 154: ST-PIERRE vs. CONDIT, presented by The United States Marine Corps, go on sale Saturday, Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $600, $400, $325, $250, $150, $100, and $75. Tickets will be at the Bell Centre box office, by phone at (514) 790-2525 / 1-877-668-8269 or at www.evenko.ca.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC® newsletter subscribers Friday, Sept. 28, starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC® newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC® 154: ST-PIERRE vs. CONDIT will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.

REMINDER: UFC will hold a 12 p.m. press conference at the Montreal Science Centre for UFC® 154: ST-PIERRE vs. CONDIT on Sept. 27 with St-Pierre and Condit in attendance. Please RSVP to Steve Keogh (skeogh@ufc.com).

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®

Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX in an exciting new live format.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization returns to Toronto this Saturday with a stacked card featuring two world title fights.

At an open workout today, here’s what the top four fighters on the card told the Canadian and travelling press:

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones said: “Vitor Belfort is a UFC original, a real, true legend. He has so much experience at so many different weight classes and I cannot underestimate him. He will have something planned for me, and I’ve prepared to react to anything he does.

“He’s a very powerful striker, but in this situation, I feel I am the more versatile striker in the fight. I won’t shy away from a striking battle just because he has a punch. He’s got a unique style and I enjoy matching up against guys like that. There are so many styles in MMA and, being the champion, you have to face all of them.

“In no way have I ‘cleared out’ the division. Everyone’s style is a puzzle for me, and who knows which style I will have the most trouble with. I’m about to fight my fifth straight UFC champion – which I was told is a UFC record – and I’m very proud of fighting the best guy available in each of my fights. That’s how you build a legacy in a sport.”

Vitor Belfort, challenger, said: “Everyday, I have the chance to be the best of myself. Every day I have a day to improve. I know I can win this fight and shock the world. I can bring the old guys some pride back (laughs).

“I am so ready in my mind, it is hard for me to explain. I am so ready to be the champion again. My brain, my body, they are so ready. That’s how I live my life, with belief. I am a winner. I am ready to win. As you get older you learn about yourself. I have the same abilities as I had when I was younger, but now I have more sense of myself. I know how I respond and learn. Whenever someone says something like ‘Can you speak French?’ I don’t say “no” I say “Not yet”.

“Against Jon Jones people ask ‘how can you beat this guy?’ and I say ‘I will show you how on Saturday’.”

Moving to the second UFC world title fight at UFC 152, the clash for the newly created UFC flyweight title, Joseph Benavidez said:

“The main goal in my career is to be the UFC champion. I would take that however it comes – but to be the first UFC champion is extra special. If I wasn’t a fighter, and I was just a fan, I would be a fan of DJ. He’s got a great all-action style and I love watching him. My coaches have broken his style down and we got a plan to beat him. My eye is on the prize but I am planning a long reign.

“It was frustrating to wait since February for this fight because DJ had a draw against (Ian) McCall but it was just extra time to get better. Most fighters train when they are fighting, I train to get better all the time. You get better as a fighter when you don’t have a fight but you in the gym – and you’ll see the best version of me yet on Saturday.”

And Demetrious Johnson added: “I first walked into Matt Hume’s gym after seeing Rashad Evans on the Ultimate Fighter (season two, 2006) and I said ‘I saw this guy who is a wrestler, like me, doing well, and I think I want to try it’. I had no idea I was too small for the smallest UFC division back then, but as they kept adding more and more smaller classes I started to believe I would fight at 125lbs in the UFC.

“This is where I belong. This is where I can perform to the best of my abilities. I want to be remembered as the George Washington of the 125lbs division, the first, the guy who was first in line and everyone else followed. All the hard work is worth that piece of the history books.”

UFC® 152: JONES vs. BELFORT, presented by Assassin’s Creed III – Igniting the Revolution on October 30th – will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on Shaw Communications, Bell TV, Sasktel and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

UFC middleweight kingpin and pound-for-pound best, Anderson Silva,will headline UFC 153 against long time veteran Stephan Bonnar in Riode Janeiro, Brazil on October 13th according to USA Today.

Bonnar (14-7), currently riding on a three fight win streak, is well known for his epic battle against Forrest Griffin on the UltimateFighter 1 finale. He has also been a regular on ESPN’s MMA Livebroadcast as an expert analyst.

Silva (32-4) is coming off arguably the most satisfying win of his career against Chael Sonnen in July and has yet to have been bested inside the UFC Octagon.

The card, which was expected to showcase an anticipated featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, abruptly came to a halt when Aldo was forced to pull out after suffering a foot injury.

Making matters worse, former champion Quinton Jackson, who was supposed to challenge the prominent Glover Teixeira, has also pulled out citing injuries, putting an additional dent to the previously stacked card in Brazil. Countryman Fabio Maldonado is now slated to fill in to face Teixeira in a light heavyweight contest.

In other notable fights, former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira returns against Dave Herman while rising welterweight sensation Erick Silva takes on the toughest challenge of his career against Jon Fitch.

Former Pride Middleweight and UFC Light Heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua scored a fourth round stoppage over Brandon Vera in a Light Heavyweight bout that headlined a UFC card at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

It was a back and forth battle that saw Vera attempt to choke Rua out in round one. Round two saw Rua rock Vera with some hard shots that caused a cut from the left eye of Vera. The two went back and forth landing hard shots on each other and the fight was setting up to be a war of attrition. Rua landed a huge right hand in round four that sent Vera wobbling back towards the cage. Rua quickly followed up with with punches to head while Vera was trying to cover up on the ground. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 4:09 of round four.

Rua, 205 lbs of Cuntigua, Brazil is now 21-6. Vera, 203.8 lbs of San Diego is now 12-6-1.

Former Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida scored a chilling second round stoppage over Ryan Bader.

Machida dominated the first round with kicks to Bader, not offering Bader any opportunity to get inside. When Bader attempted to do that in round two, he got got with a huge right on the chin that had him down and out. Machida landed two needless punches before the fight was called.

After the show UFC head Dana White was to decide which of between Rua and Machida would get a crack at the winner of the upcoming UFC Light Heavyweight battle between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson

Machida, 201 lbs of Belem, Brazil is now 18-3. Bader, 205 lbs of Tempe, AZ is now 15-3.

Joe Lauzon scored a third round choke out of Jamie Varner in a thrilling Lightweight bout.

Varner came out strong as he landed some fast combinations. Lauzon had a strong round two as he had Varner in several near submissions. In round three, Lauzon was successful in locking in a triangle choke and Varner tapped at 2:44 of round three.

Lauzon, 155.8 lbsof Bridgewater, MA is now 21-7. Varner, 156 lbs of Dobson Shores, AZ is now 20-7-1-2

Mike Swick made a triumphant return after a lengthy illness as he knocked out DaMarques Johnson in round two of their Welterweight bout.

The two traded heavy blows in round one with Swick getting the better. In round Two, Johnson fell short with a right kick and Swick seized the counter opportunity and landed a booing right hand that sent Johnson to the canvas and two flush follow up right hands to the defenseless face of Johnson had the fight stopped at 1:20 of round two.

Swick, 170 lbs of San Jose, CA is 15-4. Johnson, 171 lbs of Salt Lake City, UT is now 18-11

FAIRFAX, VA – It was a pro-Korean Zombie crowd in Fairfax, VA and their man surely didn’t disappoint. Fighting in front of a supporting group of Korean Americans and hardcore MMA fans, Chan-Sung Jung (13-3) of South Korea put on a heck of a show, going toe-to-toe with the technically sound Dustin Poirier (12-2) over four scintillating rounds before emerging victorious with a perfectly executed d’arce choke.

After a quick clinch in the opening seconds, Jung secured a takedown and drew blood on the American’s head with sharp elbows from the top. Poirier’s tricky guard got him the reversal for a bit before the two stood back up in the final seconds to trade blows.

Jung dropped Poirier again in the beginning of the second and hurried to go for a ground and pound. Poirer pulled guard and eventually got back up. A flying knee followed by a series of uppercuts and a scramble led to Jung gaining full-mount. In another fast paced scramble, Poirier almost got caught in an arm bar, but managed to escape. Seconds before the bell, Jung nearly ended the fight again with a triangle lock.

Poised to box in the third, Poirier threw jabs and found his mark with well timed right hands. But call him the Arturo Gatti of MMA if you will, the man they chanted, ‘Zombie’ can’t seem to stay out of a brawl if he wanted to. Forcing the action against his tiring foe, Jung walked through punches to dish out punishment of his own, hurting Poirier against the cage before the bell.

The fourth saw another flying knee from Jung that had Poirier collapsing to his knees. Jung then immediately locked up a d’arce choke, which rendered Poirier unconscious. The referee stepped in at 1:07 to call a halt to the contest.

In the post fight interview, Jung alluded that his last win against Mark Hominick could’ve been a fluke, so he was reluctant on calling out the champ. But this time around, he begged to differ.

‘I want to thank all the Korean fans. He (Poirier) had me in trouble in the beginning of the third, but I just kept going and came up with the win. I want Jose Aldo!’ said Jung .

SADOLLAH EDGES LOPEZ

The main supporting bout evening saw a duel between welterweights Amir Sadollah (7-3) of Richmond, VA and Las Vegas, NV’s Jorge Lopez (11-3), won by Sadollah after three close, competitive rounds. Official scores were 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28.

After a feel out start to the round, Lopez was able to takedown Sadollah and attempted to maneuver a kimura. Sadollah got back to his feet and escaped the submission attempt, but didn’t do much else to take the round.

Lopez, a Wanderlei Silva’s protégé based out of Las Vegas, NV, went for the takedown again in round two, but was countered by a guillotine attempt from Sadollah, followed by a scramble that led both guys back to their feet. Just when Sadollah appeared to be in control of the final minute, Lopez caught a leg and finished with a takedown.

The third frame saw another arduous effort from Lopez to take Sadollah down, but the Ultimate Fighter 7 winner displayed solid defense against the cage. Sadalloh was briefly taken down and pull guard before standing back up. It was almost seemed like a stall tactic for Lopez to push his foe against the cage, garnering a loud jeer of boos from the crowd in the closing seconds. To Sadollah’s credit, he tried to keep the fight standing and contributed more in the striking department.

CERRONE BREEZES THROUGH STEPHENS

Fan favorite Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (18-4-0, 1NC) didn’t disappoint the crowd, pounding out an easy yet still exciting unanimous decision (30-27 3x) win over San Diego, CA’s Jeremy Stephens (20-8). Cerreone, an Albuquerque, NM product, goofed and danced around in round one, but landed some sharp punches and leg kicks in the process. By the end of the round, the shorter Stephens appeared battered as his face was already busted up. In the second, Cerreone landed a crisp one two combination and launched a series of leg kicks that hurt his opponent. The third and last round was no different as the Greg Jackson trained fighter continued to dissect Stephens in every aspect of the game.

This was Cerrone’s first comeback fight since the disappointing loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 141. With the win, Cerrone keeps himself relevant in the lightweight picture.

With the great Georges St. Pierre nearby his corner, Montreal’s Yves Jabouin added himself to the red hot bantamweight mix with a brutal, impressive three round beat down of Enumclaw, WA’s Jeff Houghland.

Jabouin initiated action with a quick right hand and a spinning back kick that kept Hougland at bay. Towards the end of the round, Jabouin landed a hard kick to the midsection, dropping Hougland hard before relentlessly going for the finish with a series of hammer fists. The Washington native showed tremendous heart in absorbing the furious ground and pound attack before getting saved by the bell. Hougland regrouped in the second round, but Jabouin was the one on the offense, scoring with jabs and kicks to the body. A hard left hook dropped Hougland again and another assault from the top ensued. Managing to scramble out of position, Houghland hung on from half to full guard and eventually heard the final bell. Still, it was a dominant performance by Jabouin, who improves to 18-7. Scores were 30-27 (2x) and 30-26. ‘It feels awesome. Once that back kick sinks in, a lot of guys can’t withstand it. UFC does a great job matching me up with tremendous opponents.’ said the victorious Jabouin.

In a thrilling light heavyweight war, Croatia’s Igor Pokrajac (25-8) outlasted pro boxer Fabio Maldonado of Brazil (18-5) over three heated rounds.

The opening stanza saw Pokrajac quickly taking his boxer foe to his back, sustaining top position for the first half of the round. Maldonado eventually escaped and unleashed a barrage of unanswered combinations to the head that had Pokrajac in trouble. However, the Croatian was no slouch when it came to striking, coming back in the second round with combination punching of his own, staggering Maldonado and then going for a double leg, followed by a strong knee during a clinch. But the better boxer was Maldonado, who has an unbeaten professional boxing record of 22-0, 21KOs. Maldonado was landing hard shots to the body before stealing a takedown in the final seconds before the bell.

Maldonado was adamant in digging deep to the body in the third, something not commonly seen in the game of MMA. Pokrajac was more than just game, being able to fight off the fence and land hard shots of his own. The two hitters exchanged furiously in the closing seconds, but it was Maldonado who landed the cleaner shots with his superior boxing technique. Decision was met with a jeer of boos from the crowd as Pokrajac escaped with a controversial but unanimous scores of 29-28 (2x) and 30-27.

The animated Tom Lawlor (8-4, 1NC) of New England kicked off the FUEL telecast with an explosive first round stoppage win over rugged veteran Jason MacDonald (26-16) of Canada. Lawlor wasted very little time forcing the engage before landing a hard left and followed by a right to send his Canadian foe to the canvas. Before any further damage was inflicted, the referee stepped into call the bout to a halt at :50. Along with the win, Lawlor also celebrated his twenty ninth birthday. ‘It feels great (the win). I came back here started signing the checks — forgot what it was like to win and almost walked off without it. I really needed this win coming off a bad loss, a long layoff, switching camps and moving basically my whole life. I really needed something to validate that I’m making the right decisions in life.’ said Lawlor following the win.

In a crossroad bout between two fighters desperately in need of a win, Brad Tavares (7-2) of Las Vegas, NV edged Seoul, Korea’s Dongi Yang (10-3) in a three round middleweight contest. In round one, Yang was the aggressor, but Tavares was more versed in his attack, able to land leg kicks and cleaner punches. On three occasions, the bout paused abruptly, due to thumbing from both fighters. Yang was more composed in the second, landing a crisp front leg kick on the chin of Tavares. Both guys traded and checked leg kicks. Yang hurt Tavares with a straight left and moved forward with hard leaping hooks. The last two minutes of the round saw some clinching against the cage although neither guy held the clear upper hand. Tavares scored the first effective takedown of the fight in the opening seconds of the third. Yang was held down for nearly two minutes, which appeared to have taken some steam out of the South Korean. Tavares then followed with a kick to the groin, making matters worse for the fatiguing Yang. Not much happened in the final two minutes, but Tavares may have won that round based on the takedown early on in the round. When Bruce Buffer announced the decision, Brad Tavares was awarded with the unanimous verdict of 29-28 (3x).

‘It feels good to get back in the win column. It wasn’t the prettiest fight but I really did try to take his head off. I kicked him a lot and my shins are sore from kicking his elbows. He’s no chump, no walkover. Look at his record — he’s never been stopped and has only stopped people. I’m just glad I got the victory.’ said Tavares who was relieved with the unanimous decision win.

The first bout of the evening saw bantamweights Alex Soto (6-2-1) and Francisco Rivera Jr. (8-2) go head to head in a battle of Californians. From the opening round, Rivera was the aggressor, trying to time his right hand while Soto moved and circled to pick his Muay Thai kicks. Soto was wild in his attempt to shoot in for a takedown and paid the price when Rivera countered with punches. Rivera was more methodical in his approach in the second frame, still playing the aggressor, but effectively landing leg kicks. Soto was persistent in going for takedowns and Rivera seemingly took the round with harder shots. Soto briefly secured a takedown in the first minute of round three, but Rivera rose back shortly after and resumed in control with constant pressure and more accurate striking. All three judges at cageside scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Rivera.

Long time veteran Jeff Curran (35-15-1) is still winless in the UFC, after dropping a decision loss to Brazil’s Johnny Eduardo (26-9). Both veterans fought cautiously in the first round, but it was the Brazilian who consistently landed low kicks throughout. A lot of bobbing and weaving took place, but no major punches were landed in the first two rounds. In the third, Curran showed urgency by throwing more punches and was able to land something that seemingly bothered Eduardo. Eduardo briefly stopped engaging, claiming he was thumbed, but the ref did not intervene. Regardless, Eduardo kept landing his right kick while Curran continued to press the attack and headhunted. Neither guy was able to score a takedown. After three rounds, scores were 29-28 (3x), all in favor of Eduardo.

Northern Virginia’s own Kamal Shalorus (7-3-2) was looking to put on a showcase in front of his home crowd, but a left kick to the head from Brazil’s Rafael Dos Anjos (16-6) sent him crashing to the canvas, followed by a tight rear-naked choke to seal the deal. With another explosive first round win, Anjos again keeps himself relevant in the lightweight picture.

GRANT OUTHUSTLES PRATER

In a collision of two seasoned combatants, Nova Scotia’s TJ Grant (18-5) emerged victorious after out-working Brazil’s Carlo Prater (30-11-1) over three rounds. Grant worked the clinch early on, but the Brazilian defended well against the cage. After a quick scramble, Grant secured the top position and transitioned to side control seconds before the round had ended. Grant gained side control again in the second and landed some punches and elbows in a crucifix-like position. The Canadian quickly went for the takedown in the third but got caught in a guillotine choke. The choke was not fully sunk in and Grant was able to pop his head out. Prater’s back was then exposed and Grant went in for a rear naked choke and later, an arm bar, but to no avail. In the end, Grant’s superior work rate and dominant grappling earned him the unanimous nod. Scores were 30-27 (3x).

MCKENZIE STUNS LEVESSEUR

The anticipated UFC debut of former NCAA standout Marcus LeVesseur (21-6) turned out to be disastrous as Cody McKenzie (13-2) survived a furious onslaught in the opening minutes before turning the tide to claim victory in the first round. A determined McKenzie charged across the cage as soon as the bout began, but LeVesseur demonstrated his wrestling prowess with an immediate takedown to retaliate. Levesseur also displayed quickness on his feet, tagging his awkward foe with hard shots and got on top before going for a modified guillotine choke. McKenzie weathered the storm and moved to full guard and locked in a guillotine of his own, forcing the former unbeaten four time NCAA champion to tap.

‘He was really strong. It’s a fight. I kind of blacked out. ‘, said the jubilant McKenzie in the post fight interview.

Nate Diaz scored a second round choke out over Jim Miller in a scheduled three round Lightweight bout at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Guillotine Choke came at 4:09 of round two for Diaz, 156 lbs of Stockton, CA and is now 16-7. Miller, 156 lbs from nearby Whippany, NJ is now 21-4.

Johny Hendricks scored a three round split decision over Josh Koscheck in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on two cards for Hendricks while Koscheck took a card 29-28.

Hendricks, 170 1/2 lbs of Dallas, TX is now 13-1. Koscheck, 170 1/2 lbs of Fresno, CA is now 19-6.

Alan Belcher scored a first round stoppage over Rousimar Palhares in a three round Middleweight bout.

The two traded submission attempts on the ground when Belcher turned it around and punched out Palhares with some great “Ground and Pound” work and the bout was stopped at 4:18 of round one.

Belcher, 186 lbs of Biloxi, MS is now 17-5. Palhares, 186 lbs of Rio De Jinearo, BRA is now 23-4.

Levar Johnson scored a first round stoppage over Pat Barry in a scheduled three round Heavyweight bout.

It was exciting while it lasted as Barry gained ground control until Johnson came back and got to his feet and threw and landed (most of) the thirty-six unanswered punches and kicks and referee Dam Mirgliotta stopped the bout at 4:38 of round one.

Johnson, 253 lbs of San Jose, CA is now 17-5. Barry, 244 lbs of Alexandra, MN is now 7-5.

MAIN EVENT:

JOSE ALDO:

“This is the spirit I wanted to come out with tonight. The fans here gave me so much energy. We knew Chad was going to try to take me off my feet. We prepared for that and I had a chance to land the knee. It connected and I finished the fight. I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to celebrate with my people.”

CHAD MENDES:

“Jose is a great champion and he was the better man tonight. He showed why he’s one of the best fighters in the world. I knew it would be hard to take him down, but I kept trying. I tried to keep the pressure, but he is just so tough and his takedown defense is great. I wanted the title so bad.”

BOUT EIGHT: PALHARES SUBMITS MASSENZIO

ROUSIMAR PALHARES:

“What a great victory! It’s what I always say when I get in there…if it’s God’s will then it is God’s will. I went in there and got it done. I like submissions and I got another one tonight.”

MIKE MASSENZIO:

“That’s a world-class athlete who was the better fighter tonight. I had the best camp of my career. I just got stuck. It wasn’t my night. I’m really disappointed.”

BOUT SEVEN: PRATER def. SILVA by DQ

CARLO PRATER:

“I’m not a judge. I didn’t stop the fight. All I know is that he hit me and it sent a shock of pain through my body unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I don’t know if the shots were legal. I just know it was unlike anything I’ve ever felt.”

ERICK SILVA:

“Everyone here knows that wasn’t intentional. I don’t know what else to say.”

BOUT SIX: BARBOZA def. ETIM by KNOCKOUT

EDSON BARBOZA:

“When you fight in Brazil, it’s unlike fighting in any other place in the world. In a fight, you try things and hope they work. Tonight, it (the kick) worked. It’s something I’ve practiced a lot and I finally was able to land it hard. I’m happy with this outcome and you can expect more of that soon.”

TERRY ETIM:

*Transported to local hospital for medical care following the fight and was unavailable for comment*

BOUT FIVE: TAVARES def. STOUT by DECISION

THIAGO TAVARES:

“Sam Stout was the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced and this is the biggest win of my career. I thought about this fight for a long time. I have to be honest: of all the ways I saw this fight going, I never expected to beat him striking. I tried to take the fight to the ground, but he has great takedown defense. The fight stayed on the feet and I was able to win there. I want another big name next.”

SAM STOUT:

“This was my first fight without Shawn (Tompkins). It was definitely an adjustment not having him in my corner. I hope Shawn would be proud.”

“I thought I took rounds two and three, but I just struggled to find my rhythm. My head wasn’t in it in the first round. I had a slow start and I have no one to blame but myself for that.”

Gonzaga submits Oliveira

BOUT FOUR:

GABRIEL GONZAGA:

“It felt great to be back in the Octagon. I showed that I still have my BJJ skills in there tonight. My time away from the UFC was good for me. I dealt with some personal business in my life and came back refocused. Before, I was training well, but my mind just wasn’t in it. Now, I’m back, I feel great. I’m focused and I showed that by beating a 13-0 fighter.”

EDNALDO OLIVEIRA:

“Part of me is sad and part of me is angry. I left an opening and Gabriel capitalized. I wanted to win badly and this is not a good feeling.”

BOUT THREE: ALCANTARA def. OMIGAWA by UNANIMOUS DECISION

YURI ALCANTARA:

“This was like the World Cup for me tonight. To fight against a veteran like him was a true honor. I hope this win proved to the UFC that I’m ready for the main card. I felt like a complete fighter in there tonight.”

MICHIHIRO OMIGAWA:

*Suffered an injury during the contest and was transported to a local hospital for further examination. Thus, he was unavailable for comment.*

BOUT TWO: MIKE PYLE def. RICARDO FUNCH by TKO

MIKE PYLE:

“After my last fight, I took a step back and readjusted some things in my training. I knew that I had to really take a look at my whole MMA game and I think you saw some of the adjustments and improvements tonight. My striking and my overall game have evolved. This was an important fight for me in my career and I appreciate Ricardo taking this fight on short notice.”

RICARDO FUNCH:

“I’m disappointed. I don’t have any excuses. He caught me with a good shot and it was over.”

Felipe Arantes def. Antonio CARVALHO by UNANIMOUS DECISION

FELIPE ARANTES:

“I’m very happy with this win because I went out there and proved to the people of Brazil that I belong in the Octagon. He was a very tough opponent. I had a tough camp and battled some injuries, but I was able to get in there tonight and control the striking and win.”

ANTONIO CARVALHO:

“I expected the crowd to be against me, but I’m not sure it played a big factor. They were definitely loud. In the end, Felipe listened to his corner very well. I wish I would have had more efficient shots (for takedowns) because they worked in the first round. I went for a few too many submissions and tired myself out.”

Hate him or love him, Jon Jones is here to stay. Proving the evolution of mixed martial arts, Jon Jones (14-1) established himself as the current and future of this ever growing sport. Displaying an array of diverse striking, defense, and grappling to complete tonight’s mission, Jones impressively retained his light heavyweight crown over the charismatic Quinton Jackson at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO.

In the opening seconds, Jones crouched down and crawled, attempting to go for the single leg. Jackson, weary of his opponent’s grappling strength averted and tried to force a boxing contest. It didn’t matter however, as Jones’ freakishly long reach allowed him to strike from the distance, landing a variety of leg kicks from all angles to keep his stalking opponent at bay.

In the third, Jones was able to take Jackson down and secure a full mount, followed by devastating elbows to the head. Jackson was cut above the eye and looked visibly worn out. Jones, aided by his plethora of tools, had his way by the fourth round. Again, securing a takedown, Jones went for the rear naked choke, and successfully sunk it in, forcing the former champion to tap at the 1:14 mark of the round.

It was another flawless performance by the young champion, who has now dominated Rampage, Shogun Rua, and Ryan Bader in his last three outings. With the win, the twenty-four year old former junior college wrestling champion moves on to face yet another tough opponent in Rashad Evans possibly slated for early 2012.

Jackson (32-9) was humble in defeat, crediting and recognizing his conqueror as a great fighter.

Two welterweights collided in hopes to rebound from their disappointing losses in previous bouts, but it was Josh Koschek (16-5) who got back on the winning track, stopping welterweight legend Matt Hughes in the first round. Both wrestlers kept the fight standing from the start of the bell and Hughes seemed to have the advantage in the early going. However, Koschek, the former NCAA Division-I champion began to find his mark, repeatedly landing hard right hands to buckle the hall of famer. Hughes valiantly fought back and went for a knee, but fell down, which cost him dearly as Koschek jumped on him immediately to land unanswered punches to the ear and temple area prompting the ref to call a halt to the fight.

With another knockout loss, it’s unclear where the former two time welterweight champion’s career stands. In the post fight interview, Hughes, now 45-9, refused to announce his retirement.

The effects of the Colorado altitude clearly showed in the heavyweight slugfest between Mark Hunt (7-7) and Ben Rothwell (39-8), as two big men somehow finished the grueling battle in three exhausting rounds. Rothwell’s takedown attempts were denied by Hunt, the former K-1 Grand Prix winner, who was able to utilize his superior boxing throughout the fight. In round two, Hunt, who’s notoriously known for his lack of grappling skills, managed to force takedowns against his tiring challenger and also landed blows that cause a cut above the eye. The Super Samoan pursued for the knockout in round three and nearly pulled it off with several hard shots, but Rothwell, seemingly out on his feet, somehow managed to survive and finished the fight. Hunt won unanimously on all three judges’ scorecards.

Faded veteran and former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi (33-8) suffered yet another loss, this time by the hands of Stockton’s Nate Diaz, who was able to outstrike his shorter opponent and then later finishing the living legend with a modified arm bar in the first round. Gomi , who hasn’t had much to offer since his arrival in the UFC, looked sloppy as he did against Clay Guida back in UFC 125 and succumbed to another submission loss. With the win, Diaz breaks his two fight losing streak and improves his ledger to 14-7.

According to multiple sources, Nick Diaz has been scratched from UFC 137 and will not be challenging Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight crown. Diaz failed to show up to for the press conference in support of promoting the October 29th event, which led to Dana White’s decision in nixing the fight. It’s unknown whether or not Diaz would be cut from the organization altogether, but things certainly don’t look good for one of the premiere welterweights in the world today. Stepping in as a replacement is Carlos Condit, who is coming off a very impressive stoppage win over Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim back in UFC 132. Condit, who was originally penciled in to take on B.J. Penn on the main undercard of the event, now gets a title shot, hoping to become the first former WEC welterweight champion to win the UFC belt. That also leaves Penn without a dance partner and his potential replacement opponent has not yet been announced. On another interesting note, both St. Pierre and Condit share the same trainer in Greg Jackson.

Anderson Silva re-emphasized his standing as the greatest MMA fighter of the world, but he did so for the first time in his home country of Brazil. After twice dropping the highly regarded Yushin Okami in round two with a perfectly timed punch to the head, barrages of punches from the top soon followed, prompting the referee to call the bout to a halt. It was vintage Spider, who displayed his usual dazzling speed, cat-like reflexes and most importantly, his finesse and flash that just can’t be replicated inside the Octagon.

A performance akin to that of the middleweight champ’s destruction of Forrest Griffin, Okami was simply overmatched, unable to neither initiate any offense nor sustain any effective output. Silva extends his unbeaten UFC streak to fourteen and successfully defended his middleweight crown for the ninth time.

The co-main event in Rio featured Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, who avenged his loss to Forrest Griffin in a rematch between two former light heavyweight champions. Shogun was sharp, creating distance to measure his striking. Griffin looked a bit listless and got dropped by a right hand to the head, allowing Rua to follow up with a series of hammerfists. The referee soon stepped in, giving Rua the victory at the 1:53 mark of the first round.

Former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira revived his career in an exciting first round stoppage win over the streaking Brendan Schaub in a legend vs. up-and-coming contender type match up. Both fighters shared exchanges and the early going appeared to favor the American, who was able to stun the hometown veteran. The much more experienced Nogueira effectively used his clinch to push Schaub against the cage and landed a hard right hand that dropped his younger foe face-first on the canvas. It only took another hard shot to finish off Schaub, causing the ref to step in at 3:09. With the win, Nogueira gets back on the winning column, after suffering a devastating loss to current champion Cain Velasquez back in UFC 110.

In the other fights, Paulo Thiago bounced back from two consecutive losses to win in front of his home country against David Mitchell. It was a one-sided fight that saw Thiago use superior grappling and effective aggression to grind out a unanimous decision. Jungle Fight’s welterweight champion Erick Silva impressed in his UFC debut,quickly disposing Luis Ramos with an overhand right. After a quick ground and pound follow up, the ref stopped the contest at the :40 mark. The best fight of the night saw Rousimar Palhares and Dan Miller taking turns nearly knocking each other out before going the distance over three rounds. Palhares dropped Miller and relented after a short attack from the top, assuming that the fight was over. Palhares jovially got on top of the cage to celebrate before referee Herb Dean informed the Brazilian fighter that the fight was not finished. As the fight resumed, Miller recuperated and landed a devastating punch of his own, nearly stopping his foe all within the same round. Palhares dominated with a series of punches from the top in round two and secured the unanimous decision victory after three rounds.

The long waited return of UFC to Brazil is finally here. What better way to do it than showcasing not only the nation’s own hero but also the planet’s greatest mixed martial artist in the history seeking to avenge his last official loss. In what many would perceive as a home coming night for the great Anderson Silva, I personally beg to differ. Given the inconclusive outcome of their first fight and the stylistic problems that Yushin Okami poses, the man known as ‘the Spider’ could be in for another tug of war similar to one he had with Chael Sonnen on the night of UFC 117.

It’s been done many times before, where a hometown guy gets to shine in front of the crowd getting his way with an overmatched opponent en route to a one-sided victory. However, even on paper, this UFC 134 event just doesn’t seem fit that description. Look at this card from top to bottom, there’s not a single easy W that could be predicted in favor of a Brazilian fighter.

In fact, it wouldn’t be out of the realm if all of the non-Brazilian counterparts were able to escape Rio de Janeiro as winners which probably would not bode well for the native fans in Brazil. Don’t expect blow outs in favor of any.

THE ONLY AND LAST HOME COMING

Starting with the main event, one can’t doubt Anderson Silva’s motivation to erase that controversial loss to Yushin Okami that took place in Hawaii more than five years ago. Truth be told, there’s not a whole lot to analyze from their first encounter that lasted less than three full minutes.

The outspoken Chael Sonnen (who’s fought both Silva and Okami) speaks otherwise. Sonnen claimed in his recent interview that the illegal upkick that led to Silva’s disqualification was intentional, indicating that he was looking for a way out after being taken down.

Take it for what it’s worth, but I don’t fully agree nor disagree with Sonnen’s input. While Silva may or may have not been aware of the rules, I don’t for a second believe that he threw that kick to get himself disqualified. Until that takedown, which was almost given by Silva to pull Okami into his guard, he was easily winning in standup where it appeared to be a horrible mismatch. However, given how much Okami has grown experience-wse and displayed improvement on his dominant ground game, I think we’re looking at a completely different fight come this Saturday.

Silva re-exemplified his old self in his last outing when he landed that front-kick to render Vitor Belfort unconscious in one of the most creative and picture perfect knockouts we’ve seen in the sport. But that didn’t make most of us forget the four and a half rounds of beating he took from Sonnen, who for the first time made Silva look seemingly beatable with relentless takedowns and effective ground and pound from the top position.

If they were any indications of Spider’s decline in terms of speed and reflexes, Okami just might have the perfect style to exploit those vulnerabilities and dethrone the aging champ. In addition, despite his lack of submission strength and decision loss to Sonnen, the judo and wrestling based Okami hasn’t shown any susceptibility to triangle holds or other submission attempts in his five career losses. That’s not likely to change against Silva, whose submissions skills are underrated, but not overwhelmingly threatening in this case.

As much as I laugh listening to Chael Sonnen and his verbose tactics to antagonize his rivals in a WWE persona type manner, I can’t be dissuaded by his words to pick the best Japanese fighter UFC has produced. Some must believe that Silva, even at this stage of his career is several notches above in terms of striking and will do whatever he can to thwart the fight from going to the ground. I’m among those who are tabbing the legend to further extend his legacy for a few more fights.

Believe it or not, this is a huge defense for Silva, who has a chance to repudiate any claims that their first fight was a result of an intentional escape from a legitimate loss.

SHOGUN’S REVENGE

Just by looking at the main event and its co-feature, this card reminds me a lot of Don King’s Revenge: The Rematches PPV that took place back in ’94. Although it wasn’t the biggest PPV success in terms of revenues, it still remains as one of the best PPV cards ever distributed in history of boxing. And if Silva vs. Okami II serves as UFC’s version of Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall II, the rematch between former light heavyweight champions Mauricio Rua and Forrest Griffin is more like the much anticipated return bout of Terry Norris against Simon Brown.

Looking back on their first meeting, Norris, an established champion at 154 pounds was the heavy favorite going in against the older Brown, a former great in his own right during his campaign at welterweight. This was supposed to be the eleventh defense of Norris’ WBC title and many experts had expected a rather easy win for the younger, faster, and bigger man known as ‘Terrible’. Brown didn’t follow the script, landing a right hand that visibly staggered Norris near the end of round two. Norris fought back valiantly in the third, but Brown unleashed attack seconds before the bell, again putting the champ on wobbly legs. Brown finished the job in the following round with a devastating right cross that rendered the champion unconscious. It was a huge upset considering Norris’ status as one of the best fighters in the world pound for pound. The rematch wasn’t as compelling, but Norris fought a smarter fight, dictating the pace over the course of twelve rounds with constant movement, tighter defense, and fluid combinations.

Prior to crossing paths at UFC 76, Forrest Griffin was then considered the gate keeper of the light heavyweight division. Having won the Ultimate Fighter contest in his memorable battle against Stephan Bonnar, he felt short of becoming a top threat in the weight class, losing to veteran Tito Ortiz in a spirited effort and shockingly getting cold-cocked by Keith Jardine in the first round. By then, he was thought merely as a sacrificial lamb against the former Pride badass Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua who crossed waters from the Japanese circuit after the demise of the now defunct Pride FC.

Rua, who’s displayed variety of mixed martial arts prowess in his previous outings as the Pride middleweight grand prix winner, was known for his vicious Muay Thai strikes and strong BJJ skills. At the time, Shogun was easily found in many of experts’ so called pound for pound lists and was one of the biggest acquisitions made by the UFC after its purchase of Pride. Meanwhile, Griffin at the given stage was simply a segway for Rua to rise above ranks in the UFC.

The fight, however told a different story. From the first round, it was fought at a rapid pace and the tempo definitely favored Griffin. Rua seemingly had the advantage in takedowns, but was unable sustain control on the ground. The Brazilian began to tire and Griffin poured on. In the last minute of the third round, Shogun hardly resembled the man he was thought to be as he wilted under constant smothering attacks of Griffin, who sealed the deal with win via a rear-naked choke.

Four years have gone by and the two now find themselves in a crossroad with a lot more at stake. Since their last battle, both have gone on to achieve great success, each winning the light heavyweight title in separate reigns. Griffin went on to shock the MMA world once more when he dethroned Rampage Jackson to lift the UFC light heavyweight belt. He also suffered humiliating defeats to Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva, but bounced back in his last two bouts against Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin.

As for Rua, the Chutebox Academy product gradually climbed back to title contention with sluggish yet decisive stoppage wins over Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell before returning to full form to decapitate unbeaten Lyoto Machida to capture the light heavyweight crown. To his dismay, Shogun was sidelined by recurring injuries and was forced to sit out for almost a year before succumbing to hot sensation Jon Jones in an unmerciful, one-sided beating.

Rua will not only seek to avenge his loss, but also fight for resurgence if he wants to keep his name relevant as a key player in the division. Fighting in front of his home country shall provide plenty of motivation for the former champ. A win this Saturday could mean another title shot. Fans should expect both to deliver something special.

LOOKING AHEAD, WAY AHEAD

Okay, I think it’s safe to say that should Yushin Okami upset Anderson Silva in Brazil, it’s definitely not the worst thing for the powerhouse organization. Actually, it would be far from it. Understanding that UFC’s global impact will soon emerge in Japan, imagine the drawing power that could be generated by Okami should he headline a card in a championship fight? Also, consider the fact that Yoshihiro Akiyama has lost three in a row and White’s intentions are to keep him on the roster for use of his star power for promotional purposes in Japan. And despite lack of success from the likes of Kid Yamamato and Takanori Gomi since their UFC debuts, they are already established names in the world of MMA and they certainly wouldn’t hurt to help initiate things as things transpire over to the eastern hemisphere.

Just more than twenty-four hours after announcing his retirement, Chris Lytle choked out Dan Hardy in round three of their Welterweight bout that was the main event of a UFC on Versus show from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Each had their moments until Hardy tried to shoot in with a takedown and Lytle was able to lock in the choke that made Hardy tap out at 4:16 of round three

Lytle, 170 1/2 lbs of Indianapolis, IND finishes his career with a mark of 41-18-4.

Ben Henderson battered Jim Miller over the final two rounds to win an three round unanimous decision and ending both a seven fight win streak and a potential title shot for Miller.

Miller had a good first frame as he had Henderson in a choke hold. Henderson came back to bloody the right eye of Miller, get Miller in a submission and at the end of round two begin to pound away on Miller. In round three, Henderson beat up Miller as he dominated the whole round by pounding and attempting to choke out Miller.

Henderson, 156 lbs of Glendale, AZ win by scores of 30-26; 30-27 and 29-28 and is now 14-2. Miller, 155 1/2 lbs of Whippany, NJ is now 20-3

Donald Cerrone scored a first round stoppage over Charles Oliveira in a Lightweight bout.

Cerrone landed a short punch to the body that sent Oliveria down. Cerrone then preceded to land twenty-five unanswered blows before referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout at 3:01

Cerrone, 156 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 16-3-1. Oliveria, 155 lbs of Houston, TX is now 14-2-1.

Duane Ludwig scored a three round unanimous decision over Amir Sadollah in a Welterweight bout.

Ludwig won on the strength of striking from the standup position.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Ludwig, 170 1/2 lbs of Denver, CO and is now 29-11. Sadollah, 170 lbs of Las Vegas, NV is 6-3

PHILADELPHIA—Rashad Evans came back after nearly a year and a half layoff to write a bad chapter in the Cinderella Story of Tito Ortiz as Evans scored a punishing second round stoppage of their emotional Light Heavyweight bout at the Wells Fargo Center.

The crowd was in frenzy as it was a Pro-Ortiz audience and they tried to urge their man on.

There was not much action in the first moments but Evans took control in the latter stages of the round as he had Ortiz in a dominant position while landing some good punches.

The second and deciding frame had as much ebb and flow as a round could have as Evans back slammed Ortiz hard to the mat. Ortiz showed his fighting spirited and excited the crowd as for a brief moment he applied a Guillotine choke for which Evans was able to slide out of.

That may have deflated Ortiz as Evans got on the offensive and pounded a prone Ortiz before the fight was stopped.

Evans, 204.4 lbs of Boca Raton, FL will now look for the winner of Jon Jones and “Rampage” Jackson for Light Heavyweight supremacy with a record of 21-1-1. Ortiz, 205.8 lbs of Huntington Beach, CA took the fight on just two and a half weeks notice and is now 17-9-1.

RASHAD EVANS
“Speed kills and I feel that tonight I was fast. Tito was a couple of steps behind. I had to keep the pressure on because Tito is strong. I didn’t feel in any danger with the choke, I felt like it was a wrestling position where I put my head to the ground and my shoulder to him so there wasn’t too much he could do with that. This victory is sweet, after 14 months off I feel stronger than ever.”

TITO ORTIZ
“Rashad was the better man tonight. I take my hat off to him. I fought my ass off tonight and I will be back. I took this fight on short notice and gave it my all. I stepped up for Dana, Lorenzo and the UFC.”

In the Middleweight co-feature, Vitor Belfort thrilled a partisan crowd by stopping Yoshihiro Akiyama in round one.

After a cautious first moment of the bout, Belfort landed a hard combination that got Akiyama to the ground. Belfort followed up by pounding the head of Akiyama and the fight was stopped.

Belfort, 185.4 lbs of Las Vegas, NV showed no affects of his title losing knockout loss to Anderson Silva and will look for another title shot at 20-9. Akiyama, 184.6 lbs of Osaka, JAP is now 13-4.

VITOR BELFORT
“I feel great. God gave me the strength to move forward and I thank Him for that. I have the courage it takes to be one of the best. I feel strong, fit, powerful and fast.”

Brian Ebersole took out Denis Hallman in round of their welterweight battle of MMA veterans.
The match took a backseat to Hallman’s tight trunks, which Dana White later described as tighter than Speedos.

That did not seem to distract Ebersole as escaped off his back to turn the tables and begin to land hard punches and elbows on Hallman. A thudding elbow across the head was the nail in the coffin as it sent Hallman out and the bout was stopped at 4:28 of round one.

Ebersole, 170.6 lbs of Melbourne, AUS is now 48-14-1-1. Hallman, 170.8 lbs of Yelm, WA is now 66-14-2.

BRIAN EBERSOLE
“The feeling is bitter sweet, the fight didn’t start the way I wanted it to start. I thought I would have had to wear him down much more but luckily for me he had an open guard which let me get in there. I’m ecstatic about my two straight victories. I want to fight the veterans now, the ones that I came up watching.”

DENNIS HALLMAN
“I feel the fight was stopped too soon, but Brian had some good blows. Overall it was a fair fight.”

Constantinos Philippou scored a three round split decision over Jorge Rivera in a Middleweight bout.
It was a close fight with both guys having their moments.

Scores were 29-28 for Philippou in two cards and Rivera took a card at 29-28.

Phililppou, 185.2 lbs of Long Island, NY is now 8-2. Rivera, 186.4 lbs of Milford, MA is 18-9

CONSTANTINOS PHILIPPOU
“I am very happy with winning my first UFC fight, but it wasn’t the way I wanted to win it. I wanted to show off my boxing skills and instead I was wrestling and using my jiu jitsu skills. But I will learn from my mistakes and come back stronger and fitter.”

JORGE RIVERA
“I wish I had finished the fight. I think that when the decision is left to the judges, you get what you deserve, and tonight I didn’t deserve to win.”

Superstar in the making Rory McDonald scored an impressive first round stoppage over Mike Pyle in a Welterweight bout.

McDonald had Pyle on his back and began to reign elbows and punches and the fight was stopped at 3:54 of round one.

McDonald, 170.5 lbs of Montreal is now 12-1. Pyle, 170.8 lbs of Las Vegas is now 21-8-1.

RORY MACDONALD
“I went in really confident, and I have a lot more to show. I’m constantly improving and stepping up the ladder which is what I want to be doing. Everything went my way tonight, I wanted a clear shot and I knew from looking in his eyes that the fight was over.”

MIKE PYLE
“I’ll do better next time”.

Alexander Gustafsson pounded Matt Hamill in round two of their three round Light Heavyweight bout.
After Hamill took round one, Gutafsson pounded Hamill on the ground until the ref stopped the bout at 3:34 of round two.

Gustafsson of Gothenburg, Sweden is now 12-1. Hamill of Utica, NY is 11-4.

ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON
“This was by far the biggest fight of my career. It was unbelievable. I think that I was too defensive in the first round, but the second round I felt great. I want a career out of this, I want to fight the best guys in the world.”

MATT HAMILL
“I was eager going into the Octagon, but I was also fatigued. I had little time to prepare for the fight, and you could see my fatigue as my arms were down from the start of the fight. Alexander is a dangerous striker, and it was dangerous for me to have my arms down. I’ll be back tougher than ever though.”

Chad Mendes remained perfect with a three round unanimous decision over Rani Yahya in a Featherweight bout.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Mendes of Sacramento, CA and is now 11-0. Yahya of Brasilla. Brazil is now 16-7.

CHAD MENDES
“Of course we all look for a finish, but overall I am happy with the fight and I felt good. When I took him down the first time I wanted to see what he felt like. Hes a tough guy and I knew he would be strong. I was trying to elbow him and follow through with some quick pop-shots as much as possible.”

RANI YAHYA
“Chad is strong and Chad is good. He is really good at what he does. He kicked me a few times and I felt them for sure, and he has great take downs.”

Ivan Menjivar scored a three round unanimous decision over Nick Pace in a Bantamweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on all cards for Menjivar of Montreal and is now 23-8. Pace of Staten Island, NY is 6-2

IVAN MENJIVAR
“I happy with the win, he took me down so it was a very close fight. I think I punched him more than he did so I was more in control, but he hit me hard twice and that made my legs shake.”

NICK PACE
“I hate losing more then I like winning, and I want to be the champion. It was very unlucky, but that’s MMA and that’s life, its not always fair.”

Johny Hendricks scored a three round split decision over Mike Pierce in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 29-28 on two cards for Hendricks and Pierce took a card at 29-28.

Hendricks of Dallas, TX is now 11-1. Pierce of Vancouver, WA is 12-4.

JOHNY HENDRICKS
“It was a very tough fight. Its always hard with other wrestlers, and he changed levels often making it even harder. I feel that the take downs were even, in fact, I don’t think he took me down at all. I feel awesome, my ground game is good, my knees are great and I am really happy with my improvement.”

MIKE PIERCE
“I’m obviously dissapointed. I had a really good camp, went through really good training and I feel dissapointed after all the hard work I put in. It was a fair fight, both of us were trying to finish what we started, and unfortunately it went the way it did.”

On the strength of a dominant first round, former WEC champion Mike Brown scored a three round unanimous decision over Nam Phan in A Featherweight bout.

Brown pounded Phan on the ground for the majority of the opening frame.

Scores were 29-27; 29-28 and 29-28 for Brown, 146 lbs of Coconut Creek, FL and is now 25-8. Phan, 145 lbs of Orange County, CA is 16-10.

MIKE BROWN
“At the beginning my back was haunting me so that’s why I was a little conservative, but I’m glad I got the job done. There was a lot of repetitive trauma there for over four minutes so even though I didn’t knock him out, I know that I was breaking him down. It wasn’t the most perfect fight, but I’m happy I got the victory.”

NAM PHAN
“It was a really tough bout so I did what I could do. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, but I believe it was as fair as it could be”.

In the opening bout of the evening, Rafael Natal scored a three round unanimous decision over Paul Bradley in a Middleweight bout.

Scores were 30-27; 29-28 and 29-28 for Natal.

Natal, 185.4 lbs of New York is now 13-3-1. Bradley, 185.2 lbs of Minneapolis, MN is now 18-3-0-1

RAFAEL NATAL
“I am really, really happy about this fight! I feel like I needed it, I worked really hard for it. It was a tough fight and I’m glad I came through winning. Thank you God and thank you UFC.”

PAUL BRADLEY
“I feel like it was my fault, I could have taken him down in the second round. I didn’t, so it’s my fault. It was a close fight, and I am disappointed by the result. Like Dana always says, never leave it to the judges.”

UFC President Dana White talks UFC 133 & More

15rounds.com and gfl.tv was on hand for the UFC 133 Press conference that features Rashad Evans- Tito Ortiz; Vitor Belfort – Yoshihiro Akiyama and Rory McDonald – Mike Pyle

PART 2

Middleweight Contender Yoshihiro Akiyama works out before his UFC 133 showdown with Vitor Belfort

Middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama talks to the media about his UFC 133 showdown with Vitor Belfort

Middleweight contender Vitor Belfort talks to the media about his showdown Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133

Light Heavyweight contender Vitor Belfort works out in Philadelphia before his UFC 133 showdown with Yoshhiro Akiyama

UFC Legend Tito Ortiz works out in Philadelphia in advance of his UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans

UFC Legend Tito Ortiz talks about his UFC 133 battle with Rashad Evans on August 6th in Philadelphia

UFC Middleweight contender Jorge Rivera works out before his UFC 133 fight with Constantious Philippou

Whether it’s MMA or boxing, injuries happen and happen often. As was the case a month or so ago, both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were forced pull out of their anticipated rubber match for UFC 130. Considering the absence of both participants, there was no last minute replacement that could’ve truly saved the promotion. The fight, simply put, was dead and the show had to settle for Jackson vs. Hamil as the main event.

However, that’s not always the case when only one guy drops out of a fight. If match-makers do their jobs appropriately with given resources and their availability, interesting things may play out.

Dating back to the first scrap between a young Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn back in UFC 58, cirumstances were already interesting. St. Pierre had lost to then champion Matt Hughes in UFC 50 and Penn, who was making his return to the UFC had already scored a stoppage win over Hughes in UFC 46. The two were signed to fight for the number one contender spot.

St. Pierre went on to narrowly outpoint ‘the Prodigy’ to earn a title shot, but suffered an injury which delayed his crack at the title. Penn received a shot instead and faced Hughes for the title on UFC 63. Penn lost and GSP later came back to defeat Hughes via stoppage. The three would later go on to fighter each other once more. In the end, we saw a round-robin between three all-time greats and legends. It wasn’t so bad after all.

When Cain Velasquez humbled Brock Lesnar to lift the heavyweight title at UFC 121, experts and fan acknowledged that we finally have a big complete package sort of a heavyweight champion.

Junior Dos Santos on the other hand, was just another guy waiting in line, who many perceived as the ‘other’ top contender at the time. It was a no-brainer for the two to meet, and it was only a matter of time.

But of course, Velasquez suffered an injury while training, which postponed this much-talked showdown until further notice. No worries though… because fighters move on, and carry on fighting new fights. Re-enter Brock Lesnar, we thought we had a suitable replacement. The solution was simple; sit on opposite sides of the coaching gig for the Ultimate Fighter 13 and then later fight each other.

As the promotion of Lesnar vs. Santos began, pundits begun to analyze the potential outcome, it was a choice of sheer strength or pure knockout power. Which would you prefer; an overzealous and explosive series of double-leg takedowns or a cool yet disciplined style which includes a set of tight defense and vicious striking? This was a perfect interim fight, if there ever was one.

And then it came…another buzz-kill. Lesnar dropped out of the contest due to another case of diverticulitis, a disease that not only stalled his career for nearly a year, but one which in its course throughout threatened his life.

Stepping in as the new replacement to complete this heavyweight title eliminator equation, Shane Carwin was given a chance for his own redemption. After nearly decapitating the monstrous then heavyweight king, Lesnar, the former Division-II wrestling champion from Colardo ran out of gas in the second round and succumbed to a powerful arm triangle choke in his first title bid. Carwin was plagued by a multitude of issues concerning legal matters and also injuries that prohibited his return to the cage. They say inactivity is a killer in all sports but in MMA, if the timing is right, it could very well turn out to be a wonderful fortune.

Also, given the styles, we just might have a more aesthetically pleasing fight between two vicious strikers as opposed to a possible clinch-fest. Carwin, despite his extensive wrestling pedigree, is anything but gun-shy, shown in his explosiveness and relentlessness against the likes of Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga and even during his losing efforts against Lesnar.

Dos Santos, who is unbeaten in the UFC, is a proven puncher himself, demonstrated in his frightening knockouts and stoppage wins against a respectable tally which included Crocop, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Gilbert Yvel, and Fabricio Werdum. The last we saw of JDS was against the charismatic Roy Nelson, in a bout which he easily won with superior striking and unbendable takedown defense.

So fans, experts, message boarders and casual spectators and bar-goers, don’t blink. Come Saturday night in Vancouver, we have a shoot-out. And perhaps, it’s a beginning of another possible round-robin.

UNDERCARD

ESPN’s on-studio analyst and former lightweight contender Kenny Florian makes his debut at 145 pounds against Diego Nunes in attempt to earn his title shot in the recently added featherweight division. Florian, whose last bout was a disappointing decision loss to current top contender Gray Maynard, will hope to bounce back with a win and look forward to a possible showdown against the pound-for-pound great, Jose Aldo.

In a battle of great Brazilian jujitsu and American wrestling, middleweights Demian Maia is set to fight former Division-I champion Mark Munoz. Maia, a BJJ specialist will probably approach his usual technical ground game method, while Munoz will hope to utilize his strong takedown defense and much improved striking for his tricky opponent.

Also on the card, American Dave Herman will be up against Norway’s Jon Olav Einmo. Lightweights in action are Donald Cerrone and Vagner Rocha. Spike TV will televise the non-PPV portion of the undercard, including Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards and Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman. Fans can also catch the preliminary card on Facebook.

RANDOM NOTES FROM AC

This past weekend saw the super middleweight title tilt between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson at the Boardwalk Hall Ball Room in Atlantic City, NJ. While this marked the return of Glen Johnson to Atlantic City since downing Hugo Pineda back in January of 2008, this was also the return of yours truly since the November of 2008. This was only my second fight coverage since (first was in my hometown of Fairfax, VA back in November of last year) ‘08, and it was great to see the old gang and also witness some new blood. Move aside Marc Abrams and young Yano. The real Mr. AC is back!

Speaking of the fight itself, I thought the 42 year-old Johnson fought the best fight he could, but Froch was just too fast, too busy, too tough, and just better. Still, the King of Miami is one of the toughest fighters I’ve ever seen and his ability to create excitement in the ring has gone well underappreciated. Much respect to the future hall of famer. As for Froch, I think he’s earned the respect of many since his gutty effort against Mikkel Kessler in Denmark. The Cobra is now slated to enter the final championship of the super middleweight tournament against Andre Ward. Stylistically, I think his ability to backpedal and throw long, rangy combinations will pose some serious issues for Ward. The way Ward dips below the waist line can create some openings for Froch’s oddly angled uppercuts and I would not be surprised at all if the Brit comes out victorious.

PARIS HAS NO LOVE FOR ROGER

During the weekend, the French Open was also underway. Needless to say, it was great to see my man Roger Federer end the crazy streak of Novak Djokovic to reach another grand slam final. Initially, I had hoped for Djokovic to win, considering his chances (based on their last four outings) of denying Rafael Nadal of his sixth title in Paris. While it was sad to see the aging Federer lose to Nadal again (0-3 this year, 0-4 in French Open, and 8-17 total), I’ve come to accept the possibility of Nadal one day reaching or surpassing the greatness that of Roger Federer. The level of game these guys are playing today are just unbelievable. Also throw Djokovic and Andy Murray in the mix; this truly is a remarkable era of tennis. Wimbledon ought to bring something special later this month and July.

MIAMI-DALLAS THOUGHTS

When Wade, LeBron, and Bosh edged out Dirk and Co. in game 3, I thought the Heat might have sealed the deal. Or at least it gave me that impression going into remainder of the series.. But serious nerves started to kick in after the loss on Tuesday. I, for one, am worried that the momentum swing is not only in favor of Dallas, but LeBron James may just be finished for this series. Scoring just 8 points in game 4 (while averaging 20+ throughout the playoffs), it was akin to seeing Mike Jones trying to finish out the fight vs. Jesus Soto Karass after punching himself out in the second round. Granted, that was boxing and this is basketball, but James looks like the guy who shot his load in the Chicago series. Hopefully I’m wrong, and it’s still plausible that Miami closes out the series before game 7…I gotta’ hand it to Dirk Nowitzki though. He’s as tough as they come and if anyone deserves the championship from Dallas, it’s the German-based PF who’s been with the franchise since he first started in the league, not Jason Kidd. But I can’t lie, I’m a big supporter of LeBron and D-Wade, and even with all this flopping and complaining, I’m still on the wagon. Viva Miami!