The long-rumored matchup is the third championship bout on the Showtime-televised card, joining Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, who meet for the newly-created Strikeforce 145-pound Women’s Championship, as well as a lightweight title unification and rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez. Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs is also expected to be featured on the event’s main card.

Overeem and Werdum previously fought in May 2006 in PRIDE, with Werdum winning the bout via second-round submission.

The loss to Werdum started a stretch that saw Overeem (29-11-1) lose 5 of 7 fights, before rebounding to go unbeaten in five-straight bouts dating back to late-2007. Overeem began the unbeaten streak by winning the vacant Strikeforce heavyweight belt with a second-round submission (due to strikes) of Paul Buentello.  He’s since won three more bouts, including wins over Mark Hunt and Gary Goodridge, as well as a no contest against Mirko Cro Cop, but has yet to defend the title.

Considered among the best heavyweights in the world, Werdum was rumored to be in line for a heavyweight title shot in the UFC following wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera, but was cut by the promotion after suffering a first-round TKO to newcomer Junior dos Santos. The former Brazilian jiu-jitsu and ADCC world champion holds notable wins over Aleksander Emelianenko and Overeem, as well as losses to Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

For the latest Strikeforce rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

The former PRIDE lightweight champ Gomi (30-5) rebounded from back-to-back defeats and a pair of unimpressive wins with a second-round knockout of Takashi Nakakura at a May Shooto event. “The Fireball Kid” has not fought in the US since an early-2007 loss to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas (the result was later changed to a No Contest after Diaz tested positive for marijuana).

Oliveira (8-1) has won three-straight, including a unanimous decision win in his most-recent bout in April, after suffering his only career loss to Lyle Beerbohm at an October ShoXC event.

Affliction: Trilogy is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and also features Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, and Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel.

For the latest Affliction: Trilogy rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

Fanhouse first reported the matchup on Sunday evening, with the bout expected to be finalized later this week.

Wilson (14-5), a former IFL fighter, is 1-2 in the UFC, suffering a loss to Jon Fitch in his Octagon debut and losing to John Howard in January in his most-recent fight, while picking up his lone UFC victory over Steve Bruno in August.

Pyle (19-6-1) made his UFC debut on short notice in May as a fill-in for Wilson, losing to Brock Larson via first-round submission at UFC 98. An Affliction, EliteXC, Strikeforce, Sengoku, WEC, and IFL veteran, “Quicksand” had previously won four-straight fights before the May loss.

UFC Fight Night 19, which will be televised live on Spike, is also rumored to feature Roger Huerta vs. Gray Maynard and Dan Miller vs. Aaron Simpson.

For the latest UFC Fight Night 19 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

[Pictured: Mike Pyle]

Index understands that Lorenzo Fertitta, the head honcho and part owner of the UFC flew to Zagreb with his own private jet earlier this morning. He was driven to Mirko’s residents shortly after, where he stayed for two hours talking with the Croatian fighter. He returned to the airport afterwards, smiling, where his private jet flew off in to an unknown destination.

There is no doubt that Fertitta came to Zagreb to persuade the Croatian fighter to change his mind and to sign with the worlds strongest fight sport organization. We understand that Cro Cop has been offered an incredible deal that should see him fight with the UFC once again . Although Filipovic was unavailable for comment, its clear that this is a major development in the ongoing negotiations. We will almost certainly, see CroCop in the world’s strongest organization once again despite the Cro Cop close ties with Dream.

Cro Cop refused to extended his UFC contract at UFC 99 due to the oragnziations long breaks in between fights. Filipovic has stated that the UFC heavyweight title is a lifelong dream, though he didn’t want to wait another six months for his next bout. Clearly the two parties have come to some sort of an agreement. Cro Cop’s value to the UFC has become even more evident with Fertitta himself flying to Croatia. Such a move is almost unprecedented with most deals being handled by UFC president Dana White.

Nearly two years after leaving the Octagon following back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo in 2007, Cro Cop returned to the UFC in June, defeating Mostapha Al-Turk via first-round TKO at UFC 99. Competing under a special one fight deal under the premise that he’d return for additional fights, Filipovic reportedly signed with DREAM following the bout in a move likely to end his UFC career. However, the latest rumors indicate that Cro Cop has yet to sign with either promotion and is considering offers from both the UFC and DREAM.

(Translation courtesy of Robert K at BigOddsMike)

According to Bakersfield.com, all of the victims were attending a family reunion/Independence Day celebration when an unknown assailant opened first with a semi-automatic weapon, killing Anthony Mack Johnson, who died at the scene, and injuring Lavar Johnson and three others.

Johnson was last in action in May, scoring an 18-second knockout of Carl Seumanutafa at the debut Strikeforce Challengers event to extend his current winning streak to five-straight.

MMAFrenzy.com will pass along additional details on the incident and Lavar Johnson’s condition as they’re available.

[Pictured: Lavar Johnson (standing)]

“[I'm planning on sitting out] for at least a year or so, just to let my head rest. I haven’t personally made a decision one way or the other. Hopefully my brain can heal over time. The shot last fight is something that normally wouldn’t hurt me. I think I need at least some time off from getting hit. I’m going to take time off sparring then. I’ll train still. Still gonna roll. I’ll probably do a little more jiu-jitsu than normal because I like it. It’s fun.”

While Liddell’s retirement decision can wait, the UFC must soon find a headliner for UFC 103, which currently boasts Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann and Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg as its top bouts.

The former IFL middleweight champ Miller (11-2) won three-straight bouts over Rob Kimmons, Matt Horwich, and Jake Rosholt to begin his UFC career, extending his unbeaten streak to ten-straight, but suffered a unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC 98 in May, his first loss in over three years.

Aaron Simpson, who trains at Arizona Combat Systems, made his WEC debut late last year with an 18-second knockout of David Avellan. After the promotion’s middleweight division was shut down following his win, Simpson made the jump to the UFC, defeating Tim McKenzie via first-round TKO in April.

Simpson and ACS teammate Steve Steinbeiss were rumored to be fighting at UFC 103 when it was tentatively scheduled for September 26th in either the UK or Phoenix, Arizona, but Simpson will now fight at UFN 19 in the Midwest and Steinbeiss could follow suit.

UFC Fight Night 19 is also set to feature Gray Maynard vs. Roger Huerta, with tickets for the Spike-televised event set to go on sale on July 9.

For the latest UFC Fight Night 19 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

[Pictured: Dan Miller]

While family and friends celebrate the Fourth of July at home in America, USA West held a celebration of its own in Seoul after recording its second 5-0 shutout of the season by sweeping Imperial. The statement victory allowed the Americans to finish the regular season with an unblemished 3-0 challenge record and a remarkable 13-2 record in individual fights.

During the dominating performance, both David Jansen and Shane Del Rosario of USA West preserved their undefeated records in professional MMA. Jansen, a product of Matt Lindland’s Team Quest, moved to 11-0 following a guillotine submission victory via submission just 22 seconds into his encounter against Imperial’s Amirkhan Mazikov.

Del Rosario, an EliteXC veteran, bested Jansen’s time by one second following his TKO at 0:21 over Maksim Grishin. The heavyweight improved to 7-0 with all seven fights having ended inside the distance and six of them ending in round 1.

Team South Korea also competed on its home turf for the second time in two years on Saturday. Facing Group B rival Brazil Naja in a best-of-five series televised live on SBS, the Koreans fell one victory short of sending its countrymen and women home happy.

In the opener, Brazilian lightweight Hacran Dias was handed the first defeat of his career after dropping a unanimous decision to Korea’s Nam Yui Chul. With the loss, Dias still maintains an impressive record of 11-1-1 and while Chul is now 9-2.

During the most anticipated bout of the evening, Brazil’s Eduardo Pamplona finished the M-1 Challenge regular season with a perfect 3-0 record after winning a decision over Doh Hyung Kim at 2:59 of round three due to a cut. Soon after both fighters made their respective charismatic entrances, Kim sustained a wound that opened up during the course of the fight.

When medical officials examined Kim in round three and decided to call a premature end to the bout, the outcome of the fight reverted to the scorecards of the judges. The judges ruled that Pamplona, 11-2, won the fight in unanimous fashion. The encounter between the two welterweights lived up to the hype, with both Kim and Pamplona earning unofficial “Fight of the Night” honors.

Following Korean middleweight Jae Young Kim’s two-round majority decision loss against Daniel Acacio, Brazilian light heavyweight Alexander Machado clinched the team victory for Naja after submitting Dool Hee Lee with a rear naked choke at 3:26 of round 2.

Despite losing in front of their home fans, Team South Korea still gave everyone watching live in the arena and at home something to celebrate when Hae Joon Yang recorded the unofficial “Knockout of the Night” after sending Brazilian heavyweight Joaquim “Mamute” Ferreira sprawling to the canvas in a short but highly enthralling brawl. Needing just 14 seconds to take out Ferreira, Yang improved to 3-0 in his professional career with all three victories coming via first round (T)KO.

During the night’s team challenge opener, Finland improved to 2-1 in Group B with an impressive 4-1 victory over Bulgaria. Competing without its top fighter, middleweight Lucio Linhares, Finland kept its playoff hopes alive by dominating the Bulgarians.

With Linhares focused on training for his Affliction and M-1 debut on pay-per-view on Aug. 1, lightweight Niko Puhakka, light heavyweight Marcus Vanttinen, heavyweight Toni Valtonen, and welterweight Janne Tulirinta, who recently received his brown belt from Linhares, all stepped up. With the exception of Linhares’ replacement, Mikko Suvanto, every other Finnish fighter not only won but stopped their respective opponent within the distance.

If Group C leader USA East loses on Aug. 15 in Amsterdam, Finland still has a mathematical chance to supplant the Americans. However, the Fins’ chances of making the playoffs still remain slim, as USA East would not only have to lose but fail to win two bouts during its head-to-head series vs. Team Benelux.

With its sixth edition now in the books, the seventh edition of the ‘09 M-1 Challenge is scheduled to take place during a two-day MMA festival in Amsterdam from Aug. 15-16. In addition to USA East and Benelux, teams from Japan, France, Spain, and England will also all be in action. Additional information concerning the event will be released on www.M-1Global.com later this week.

Official results from today’s event are listed below:

Bulgaria vs. Finland

1. Lightweight (-70 kg/154 lbs.) - Niko Puhakka (FIN) def. Yanko Yanev (BUL) via TKO (strikes) at 2:16 of round 1
2. Welterweight (-76 kg/167.2 lbs.) - Janne Tulirinta (FIN) def. Ivan Ivanov (BUL) via TKO (strikes) at 3:44 of round 1
3. Middleweight (-84 kg/184.8 lbs.) - Rosen Dmitirov (BUL) def. Mikko Suvanto (FIN) via majority decision
4. Light Heavyweight (-93 kg/204.6 lbs.) - Marcus Vanttinen (FIN) vs. Emil Samoilov (BUL) via submission (verbal) at 3:42 of round 3
5. Heavyweight (+93 kg/+ 204.6 lbs.) - Toni Valtonen (FIN) def. Nikola Dipchkov (BUL) via submission (triangle) at 4:49 of round 1

Finland defeats Bulgaria 4-1

USA West vs. Russia Imperial

6. Lightweight (-70 kg/154 lbs.) - Dave Jansen (USA) def. Amirkhan Mazikhov (RUS) via submission (guillotine) at 0:22 of round 1
7. Welterweight (-76 kg/167.2 lbs.) - Fabio “Negao” Nascimento (USA) def. Marat Ilaev (RUS) via submission (armbar) at 2:13 of round 2
8. Middleweight (-84 kg/184.8 lbs.) - Giva Santana (USA) def. Radmir Gabdulin (RUS) via submission (arm triangle) at 3:47 of round 1
9. Light Heavyweight (-93 kg/204.6 lbs.) - Tony Lopez (USA) def. Viktor Nemkov (RUS) via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:06 of round 2
10. Heavyweight (+93 kg/+ 204.6 lbs.) - Shane Del Rosario (USA) def. Maksim Grishin (RUS) via TKO (strikes) at 0:21 of round 1

USA West defeats Russia Imperial 5-0

South Korea vs. Brazil

11. Lightweight (-70 kg/154 lbs.) - Nam Yui Chul (KOR) def. Hacran Dias (BRA) via three round unanimous decision
12. Welterweight (-76 kg/167.2 lbs.) - Eduardo Pamplona (BRA) def. Do Hyung Kim (KOR) via unanimous decision
13. Middleweight (-84 kg/184.8 lbs.) - Daniel Acacio (BRA) def. Jae Young Kim (KOR) via two-round majority decision
14. Light Heavyweight (-93 kg/204.6 lbs.) - Alexander Machado (BRA) def. Dool Hee Lee (KOR) via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:26 of round 2
15. Heavyweight (+93 kg/+ 204.6 lbs.) - Hae Joon Yang def. Joaquim “Mamute” Ferreira (BRA ) def. via knockout at 0:14 of round 1

Brazil defeats South Korea 3-2

[Pictured: USA West's Dave Jansen celebrates his M-1 Challenge victory]

MMAFrenzy.com’s regular content will resume tomorrow (Sunday, July 5th).

Kris Karkoski
Owner and Editor, MMAFrenzy.com

MMAFrenzy.com shirts will be on sale soon! Keep an eye out in the coming days for a launch/pre-UFC 100 special!

• The MMAFrenzy.com rumors section has been completely updated. [MMAFrenzy.com/rumors]
• UFC fighters Rousimar Palhares and Thiago Tavares are likely to return in the fall from injuries. [MMAjunkie]
• With just one fight remaining on his current contract, Rich Franklin is ready to renegotiate with the UFC before his next fight. [MMAjunkie]
• Roger Gracie will make his Strikeforce debut against an opponent to-be-named at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on August 15.
• Featherweight contender Wagnney Fabiano will fight at WEC 43 on September 2 in Youngstown, Ohio. An opponent has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Bobby Lashley will next fight in September. [MMA Fanhouse]
• Gilbert Yvel vs. Paul Buentello has officially been added to the fight card for Affliction: Trilogy.
• Heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson has signed with Ohio-based NAAFS and will debut against Tony Sylvester at Rock N Rumble III at the Nautica Pavilion in Cleveland.
• A timetable for UFC heavyweight Heath Herring’s return has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Middleweight Rob Kimmons has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. [MMAjunkie]
• Mark Hominick vs. Deividas Taurosevicius and LC Davis vs. Javier Vazquez have been booked for the HDNet-televised “Affliction: Trilogy” preliminary card
• Weigh-ins for UFC 100 will take place on Friday, July 10 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the same venue which will host the July 11 pay-per-view event. (Note: MMAFrenzy.com will be providing a live stream of the weigh-ins)
• WEC lightweight contender and former champion Rob McCullough is likely to return in the “late fall” [MMAjunkie]
• Diego Sanchez will get the next lightweight title shot against the winner of the August 8 matchup between BJ Penn and Kenny Florian. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Ticket sales for UFC 101 on August 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia have surpassed 14,000 for a Pennsylviania record-breaking $3+ million live gate. [MMAjunkie]
• Strikeforce will hold a press conference for the promotion’s August 15 matchup between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on July 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• Luiz Cane wants to fight Rich Franklin. [MMAjunkie]
• UFC heavyweight Antoni Hardonk thwarts a robbery in LA. [Yahoo! Sports]

[Pictured: Rich Franklin]

Note: Items without bracketed-links ([]) have either been officially announced or confirmed by MMAFrenzy.com

Here’s details on the contest:

It’s the Ultimate gig in the world of sports modeling, and when The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) decided to search for potential new Octagon Girls, it reached out to the only magazine devoted to discovering new beauty around the world: Maxim, the largest young men’s lifestyle magazine in America. The result? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for attendees of the UFC Fan Expo to be on hand when the winner of the first-ever Maxim UFC Octagon Girl Search is chosen at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, July 11th, just hours before the lights go down for the biggest event in mixed martial arts history, UFC 100.

During the two-day Fan Expo, the Octagon Girl Search will culminate with a live voting phase at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, on the main stage of Bayside Hall B. The event will feature UFC fighters and Maxim editors selecting the winner in a runway-style pageant during the UFC Fan Expo. The winning model will receive a UFC Octagon Girl contract and will be featured throughout the Maxim properties, including Maxim magazine and on Maxim.com.

MMAFrenzy.com will pass along details on the new Octagon Girl, including photos and videos, once a winner’s been chosen.

[Pictured: Octagon Girl Logan Stanton]

Roger Huerta’s contract-fulfilling bout against fellow-lightweight Gray Maynard is currently the only rumored fight for the card.

The debut episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights, featuring Kimbo Slice, will premiere immediately following UFN 19.

UFC Fight Club members can purchase tickets beginning at 10am CT on Thursday, July 9, UFC Newsletter subscribers can buy tickets on Friday, July 10 at 10am CT, while the general public must wait until Saturday, July 11 before being able to purchase tickets.

Largely for logistics reasons, the UFC will then hold UFC 103 just three days later at the nearby American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

[Pictured: Roger Huerta]

Though not yet signed, the bout is reportedly in the works for the event and both fighters are expected to agree to the rematch of their early-2006 meeting at UFC 57 which was won by Riggs via unanimous decision.

Even more memorable than their fight inside the Octagon was the one that took place after they left the cage, as Diaz and Riggs brawled at the hospital.

Diaz (20-7) has won five-straight, including recent victories over Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith, while Riggs has won back-to-back fights over Luke Stewart and Phil Baroni.

[Pictured: Nick Diaz]

Rumina “Moon Wolf” Sato will take on Ulysses “Useless” Gomez in the headlining superfight on July 10, while UFC veteran Vinny Magalhaes will also compete that day against an opponent to be announced. Saturday’s lineup features grappling matches between four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and WEC contender Fredson Paixao against 22-time Grapplers Quest champ Jeff “Pipelayer” Glover, as well as UFC lightweight contender Joe “Daddy” Stevenson against Bill “The Grill” Cooper.

“For fans of the ground game, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some of the world’s premier grapplers in one place competing against each other,” said UFC President Dana White in a press release announcing the bouts.

Tickets for the first-ever UFC Fan Expo - which leads up to the historic UFC 100 event that takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, July 11th - are limited, but are still on sale and can be bought exclusively at www.ufcfanexpo.com. V.I.P. Passes sold out quickly, but fans can still buy tickets to the Expo, and Customers that purchase in advance will receive $10 off the two-day pass.

The UFC has also announced that is will be officially revealing the cast for The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights at the Fan Expo on Friday July 10.

[Pictured: Joe Stevenson]

“Looks like I’ll be fighting October 24 in LA,” wrote Carwin on Twitter. “Excited to know. No bout agreement yet. Looks like Cain and I if all goes.”

The pair of up-and-coming heavyweights were originally rumored to co-headline UFC 103 on September 26 in Dallas alongside Mike Swick vs. Matt Hughes, but neither bout materialized for the card with Carwin-Velasquez now pushed back to UFC 104 and Swick booked to fight Martin Kampmann at the September event.

The latest moves leave UFC 103 without a main event, fueling speculation the Chuck Liddell could return to the Octagon for at least one more bout to headline the pay-per-view event, possibly against Rich Franklin.

A potential bout between Carwin and Velasquez began to be discussed after Velasquez’s UFC 99 victory over Cheick Kongo in June, which cemented his status as a contender for the heavyweight title much like Carwin did with a UFC 96 win over Gabriel Gonzaga. Both Velasquez (6-0) and Carwin (11-0) are undefeated and in line for a title shot, though each needs one more victory over top competition before fighting for the belt.

Though not yet officially announced, UFC 104 is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between title-holder Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

For the latest UFC 103 and UFC 104 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

[Pictured: Shane Carwin]

Details on the bout were first confirmed by Jackson in a recent YouTube video and the UFC’s Marc Ratner tells MMAjunkie that the pay-per-view event will take place on December 12 or 19 at the 19,000-seat FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Jackson passed on a title shot against Lyoto Machida following back-to-back victories over Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine, instead opting for a second stint as a coach on the UFC’s reality series and an eventual top-contender showdown with Evans, with whom he had an in-octagon verbal confrontation with in March following a unanimous decision win over Jardine.

Evans, who is also familiar with TUF, appearing as a heavyweight on the second season of the show, suffered a second-round knockout to Machida in his most-recent bout in May. He was previously undefeated in 14 career fights with wins over Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, and Forrest Griffin.

For the latest details on UFC 107 check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

[Pictured: Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans]

A venue has not yet been set for the pay-per-view event and no bouts are even rumored for the card, which is typically the promotion’s most-stacked of the year.

Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir, and Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans were all featured at UFC 92 last December, while Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva and Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes co-headlined UFC 79 in late-2007, and Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz drew record numbers as the main event of UFC 66 in December 2006.

Though the event typically takes place on the last Saturday of the year, that date this year would have been December 26th, requiring weigh-ins to take place on Christmas day. Instead, the UFC has pushed the event back to the first Saturday of 2010 and added UFC 107, headlined by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans, in mid-December.

The UFC’s upcoming schedule includes (click on an event for the latest rumored bouts):

• UFC 100: Lesnar vs. Mir 2 - July 11, 2009 (Las Vegas, NV)
• UFC 101: Declaration - August 8, 2009 (Philadelphia, PA)
• UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira - August 29, 2009 (Portland, OR)
• UFC Fight Night 19 - September 16, 2009 (Oklahoma City, OK)
• UFC 103 - September 26, 2009 (Dallas, TX)
• UFC 104: Machida vs. Rua - October 24, 2009 (Los Angeles, CA)
• UFC 105 - November 14, 2009 (Manchester, England)
• UFC 106 - November 21, 2009 (Las Vegas, NV)
• The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale - December 5, 2009 (Las Vegas, NV)
• UFC 107: Jackson vs. Evans - December 12 or 19, 2009 (Memphis, TN)
• UFC 108 - January 2, 2009 (Las Vegas, NV)

Throw in a mix of WEC, Strikeforce, Affliction, DREAM, and Sengoku events and we’ve got a packed schedule for the remainder of the year and into early-2010.

Pennsylvania also began regulating MMA in recent months, with Pittsburgh’s first event taking place last weekend and the UFC’s “Keystone State” debut slated for August 8 with UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

One of the last major holdouts on the list of 11 states which have yet to legalize the sport is New York. Though a bill to regulate MMA is making progress in the state’s legislature, it won’t be until next year at the earliest until it could be approved with the first UFC event in the state unlikely until 2011.

A UFC event in Indianapolis, Indiana appears most-likely with the new regulation now in place, with an event in Hawaii, the home state of UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn, likely on hold for the time being due to steep taxes and fees that accompany the state’s regulation.

Un-sanctioned MMA events have been frequently held in both Indiana and Hawaii in the past, but the official regulation of MMA opens the doors for major promotions such as the UFC and Strikeforce to hold events in the states.

[Pictured: BJ Penn]

Joining a heavyweight headliner between Randy Coture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the pay-per-view main card are Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva, Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt, Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt, and Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera.

The event’s now-complete 11-bout lineup features:

MAIN CARD

• Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
• Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
• Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
• Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
  
• Wilson Gouveia vs. James Irvin
• Junior Dos Santos vs. Justin McCully
• Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
  
• Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
• Evan Dunham vs. Matt Veach

Kyle Kingsbury

Light heavyweights Razak Al-Hassan and Kyle Kingsbury have agreed to face one another at UFC 104 in October at the Staples Center in L.A. Both fighters will be looking to rebound after suffering defeat in their last outings, or potentially face being cut by the UFC. The formal contracts for Al-Hassan vs. Kingsbury have yet to be signed, but should be soon, according to MMAWeekly who first reported the match up.

Al-Hassan was last in action at “UFC Fight for the Troops” where he suffered defeat at the hands of Steve Cantwell. In the bout Cantwell locked in a tight arm bar that he used to eventually hyper-extend Al-Hassan’s elbow, since he would not tap. The resulting injury kept Al-Hassan out of action until he was cleared by doctors to resume training, which took place recently.

Kingsbury appeared on season eight of “The Ultimate Fighter” where he was defeated by eventual winner Ryan Bader. He was then brought back as a replacement for an injured fighter, only to be defeated Krzysztof Soszynski. Despite the two losses Kingsbury on “The Ultimate Fighter” Kingsbury made his official UFC debut at “The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale” where he was out wrestled by fellow “The ultimate Fighter” cast mate Tom Lawlor.

Also rumored for UFC 104 is Lyoto Machida’s first light heavyweight title defense against challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

WEC newsletter subscribers can purchase tickets one day early on July 8 for the Versus-televised event, which is headlined by an interim lightweight championship bout between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson.

Lightweight champ Jamie Varner, sidelined for the indefinite future due to injuries suffered in a January win over Cerrone, will not be stripped of the 155-pound title, according to WEC general manager Reed Harris who, in an interview with MMAjunkie, corrected a report from the Youngstown Vindicator stating that the promotion was planning to strip the belt from Varner and crown the Cerrone-Henderson winner the promotion’s undisputed champion.

“Jamie is not stripped of the title,” Harris said. “We’re all hoping Jamie can come back later this year and defend his title against whoever wins the interim title. We just couldn’t put the division on hold. We had to move it forward. … Donald and Benson were elated.”

Harris also spoke with NWI.com to clarify his quote from the Vindicator interview which said Jamie Varner’s career may be over.

“Jamie’s injured and I’m not sure when he’s going to come back,” Harris said. “And (the Vindicator reporter) said, ‘Is there a chance he couldn’t come back?’ and I said, ‘Of course — he’s got an injury to his hand.’ So for that reason, we did this as an interim belt. Obviously if he can’t come back, we will do it as a permanent title.”

“Obviously China is a huge market and the Chinese understand the martial arts probably better than anyone else in the world. It’s a no brainer that UFC programming will be appreciated in China, and will become a big hit for the NMTV network,” said Dana White, UFC President.

Inner Mongolia Television, known as NMTV, is a network broadcast station available in 60 million households, with the potential to reach 240 million viewers throughout all the provinces of China. Starting this month, NMTV will air up to 16 hours of UFC programming per month, including the trademark shows The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed and UFC All Access, with an option to air recent UFC pay-per-view event telecasts.

With this deal, NMTV will air between one to four hours of UFC programming each week on Saturday and Sundays between 1:30 – 5:30pm local time, broadcast in languages specific to each province.

UFC television programming can be seen in over 100 countries and territories worldwide in 17 different languages. UFC is the largest pay-per-view content provider in the world and is the fastest growing sports organization in history.

Joining a headlining matchup between bantamweight champ Miguel Torres and challenger Brian Bowles on the Versus-televised main card are Joseph Benavidez vs. Dominick Cruz, Danny Castillo vs. Ricardo Lamas, Jeff Curran vs. Takeya Mizugaki.

The now-complete WEC 42 fight card features:

MAIN CARD

• Miguel Torres (c) vs. Brian Bowles
  WEC Bantamweight Championship
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Dominick Cruz
• Danny Castillo vs. Ricardo Lamas
• Jeff Curran vs. Takeya Mizugaki

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Leonard Garcia vs. Jameel Massouh
• Fredson Paixao vs. Cole Province
• Marcus Hicks and Shane Roller
• Phil Cardella vs. Ed Ratcliff
• Kenji Osawa vs. Rani Yahya
• Rafael Dias vs. Diego Nunes

[Pictured: Miguel Torres]

Bout agreements are pending to make the bout official for the September 19 pay-per-view event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Swick (14-2), who had campaigned to fight Matt Hughes at the September event in his home state, has lost just once in 10 UFC bouts, losing to middleweight contender Yushin Okami in 2007 before dropping to welterweight in early-2008 and winning four-straight to make a case for a title shot.

Kampmann (15-2) has won 6 of his 7 UFC fights, including 2-straight at welterweight over Carlos Condit and Alexandre Barros following a loss to Nate Marquardt last September in his final middleweight bout.

UFC 103 is expected to be co-headlined by Cain Velasquez vs. Shane Carwin, and is also slated to include Frank Trigg vs. Josh Koscheck and Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca.

[Pictured: Martin Kampmann]

In a recent interview with Raw Vegas, Swick said that they’re still trying to organize a fight with Hughes, but that he could take on fellow-contender Martin Kampmann later this year instead.

“I want the Hughes fight and we’re trying to work it out, but it doesn’t seem like it’s happening so it might be Kampmann,” said Swick.

Swick (14-2) has lost just once in 10 UFC bouts, losing to middleweight contender Yushin Okami in 2007 before dropping to welterweight in early-2008 and winning four-straight to make a case for a title shot, while Kampmann (15-2) has won 6 of his 7 UFC fights, including 2-straight at welterweight following a loss to Nate Marquardt last September in his final middleweight bout.

Jorge Rivera recently signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. Since beating Nissen Osterneck in April in the last fight of his previous contract, the 37-year-old Milford native has been rehabbing an injured left shoulder. Rivera hopes to return to the Octagon by early fall.

Rivera is 5-5 in 10 appearances inside the Octagon dating back to 2003, with victories over David Loiseau, Dennis Hallman, Edwin Dewees, Kendall Grove, and Osterneck as well as losses to Lee Murray, Rich Franklin, Chris Leben, Terry Martin, and Martin Kampmann. His resume also includes a win over Travis Lutter and defeat to Anderson Silva.

Here’s a recap of the co-main events from MMA Weekly:

For the first ever MMA event in the city of Pittsburgh, the crowd of 5,109 in attendance were treated to an exciting event overall, but disappointed after the main event between Rich Clementi and Kyle Jensen ended prematurely when Clementi suffered a broken clavicle at just :45 seconds in the first round.

Clementi and Jensen came after each other early, and after a clinch it was Clementi who went for a throw, but ended up crashing on the mat himself as Jensen reversed the move. As Jensen worked to improve his position, Clementi yelled up to referee Mark Matheny that he broke his collarbone, and immediately the fight was stopped.

Jensen commented after the win how hard he trained for the fight with Clementi, and the former WEC fighter will now look to make his mark at 155lbs after this event.

American Top Team product, Micah Miller, put on a show for the Pittsburgh crowd looking very impressive, submitting J.C. Pennington in the 2nd round of their co-main event fight.

Miller used his reach to light Pennington up when the fight stayed standing, and once on the mat he showed his superior ground game, opening up shots, and moving to a rear naked choke forcing the tap out. Miller, a top featherweight prospect, will now head back home to Florida where he will have another fight on August 1st.

Also on the card, TUF 7 cast member Paul Bradley successfully made his welterweight debut with a decision win over Leonardo Pecahana and 2008 NCAA Division I wrestling champion Phil Davis improved to 4-0 with a first-round rear naked choke submission of David Baggett.

[Pictured: Micah Miller]

The card also featured victories by notables Gilbert Yvel, Chris Horodecki, Javier Vasquez, and Affliction vice president Tom Atencio.

The results for Ultimate Chaos were:

MAIN CARD

• Bobby Lashley def. Bob Sapp via submission (strikes) — Round 1, 3:17
• Gilbert Yvel def. Pedro Rizzo via KO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:10
• Colin Mckee def. Lance Thompson via submission (strikes) — Round 1. 4:16
• Javier Vazquez def. Mark Kergosien via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1
• Chris Horodecki def. William Sriyapai via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:02
• Waachiim Spiritwolf def. Brett Cooper via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:41
• Tom Atencio def. Randy Hedderick via TKO (corner stoppage) — Round 2, 5:00
• Brandon Harder def. John Harris via submission (arm triangle choke) — Round 2, 4:31
• James Orso def. Danny Abbadi via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Drew Wallace def. Eric Graham via TKO (strikes) — Round 2
• Rocky Overstreet def. Greg Maher via submission (kimura) — Round 1
• Johnathon Mackles def. Shilo Pisarich via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 2
• Trent Billiot def. Weldon Galle via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2
• Joey Parker def. Jim McLemore via unanimous decision

[Pictured: Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp]