UFC Daily

UFC and MMA News

Total news: 621
Last news: November 24, 2010 00:03:19

Newly-crowned UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has withdrawn from his UFC 125 co-headliner with Josh Grispi after being sidelined by a back injury ahead of the New Year’s Day event in Las Vegas, Heavy reports.

Aldo was awarded the UFC belt by Dana White over the weekend ahead of UFC 123 and would have been making his Octagon debut along with Grispi following World Extreme Cagefighting’s merger with the UFC.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Seth Petruzelli has reportedly been cut from the UFC’s light heavyweight roster after suffering a first-round TKO to Karlos Vemola earlier this month at UFC 122.

It was the second-straight loss for The Ultimate Fighter 2 castmember Petruzelli (12-6), who was submitted by Ricardo Romero in his UFC return at July’s UFC 116 to snap a four-fight win streak that included a 14-second knockout of Kimbo Slice.

The UFC also recently released Karo Parisyan and is expected to cut Matt Brown following losses at Saturday’s UFC 123, while Tyson Griffin is safe despite dropping a controversial split decision.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is still recovering from knee surgery that knocked him out of a September rematch with Frank Mir and sidelined him since a February loss to Cain Velasquez, but the former champion remains in good spirits as he prepares to fight anyone when he returns to the UFC next year.

“”He’s good,” Nogueira’s manager Ed Soares told ESPN.com. “He’s a great guy, so he’s always in good spirits. It’s pretty hard to get that guy bummed out. The knee: He is rehabbing it right now in Brazil. He’s not training, just rehabbing the knee. I’d like to see him come back when he feels 100 percent. I am assuming it will be sometime in late spring, early summer.

“I think [Nogueira-Mir II] is a great fight. Does he want to even the score? Absolutely! Is it a motivating factor? Definitely! Big Nog is a warrior. He’s never chosen an opponent. Whoever you put in front of him, he will fight.”

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Despite receiving an indefinite medical suspension for an eye poke suffered in his UFC 123 win over Joe Lauzon, rising lightweight George Sotiropous is still expected to take on Dennis Siver at February’s UFC 127 in his native Australia.

The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission also suspended Mike Lullo indefinitely after he was stopped in the third-round on Saturday by leg kicks from fellow newcomer Edson Barboza, while Matt Hughes (60 days), Karo Parisyan (30 days), and TJ O’Brien (30 days) earned precautionary suspensions, according to MMAjunkie.

MORE: UFC 123 results, UFC 123 coverage, UFC 123 shirts

Pictured: George Sotiropoulos

MORE: UFC 124 coverage, Georges St. Pierre UFC 124 shirt, Josh Koscheck UFC 124 shirt

After a close UFC 123 headliner between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida narrowly went Jackson’s way, the former light heavyweight champs promptly agreed to another meeting before leaving the Octagon.

However, UFC President Dana White said after Saturday’s event that “Rampage” earned a clear win to move closer to a title shot and that an immediate rematch is unnecessary.

“No. As far as I’m concerned, and apparently, as far as the judges are concerned, Rampage won that fight,” White said, shooting down the proposed rematch at the post-UFC 123 press conference.

Though the next steps for Jackson and Machida are unclear, February’s Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader and Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin could offer opponents for both, with ‘Rampage’ potentially facing either winner for a shot at the belt against the winner of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Rashad Evans.

Here’s some other notable post-UFC 123 news:

• UFC 123 drew 16,404 fans to The Palace of Aburn Hills in Detroit for a $2.1 million live gate
• ‘Rampage’ nearly pulled out of the UFC 123 main event against Machida after catching an illness from his son that left him with a fever and vomiting in the days leading up to the fight, but said at the post-fight press conference he couldn’t tell White he was pulling out as he feared being ‘cussed the f*** out’
• White said the UFC is working on a pair of TV deals that will put the promotion in over a billion homes worldwide and that the UFC is planning around 30 events for 2011, on par with the 32 events they did in 2010 between the UFC and WEC

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

There have been many complaints about MMAs scoring system for years now and Saturday night was just the latest chapter in this ongoing saga. It seems as though the UFC 123 headliner between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida has sparked many complaints about a fight being fixed, so let us take a look at the fight by the numbers. - [Read more]

FightTrends.com has already previewed the UFC 123 tees for "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida, BJ Penn, and more, so now its time to take a look at the full slate of UFC 123 shirts well be seeing at "UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida" on Saturday (Nov. 20) from Detroit. - [Read more]

After an uninspiring performance Saturday at UFC 123, Karo Parisyan has been cut again by the UFC. The troubled Armenian did not appear to be in good shape heading into the bout and never looked good in suffering a quick TKO loss to veteran Dennis Hallman. This marks the second time the former welterweight contender has been released from the UFC.

In other UFC 123 news, lightweight Tyson Griffin will not be cut despite suffering his third-straight loss Saturday at the hands of Nik Lentz. The fight ended in a controversial split decision as many believed Griffin was the aggressor throughout the bout, including UFC President Dana White, who said “Tyson Griffin got [expletive] big time tonight.” The five-time fight of the night winner will likely receive one more chance in the UFC.

MORE: UFC 123 recap, UFC 123 results, UFC 123 coverage

Pictured: Karo Parisyan

Just hours after earning impressive wins at Saturday’s UFC 123, new challenges already await former champ BJ Penn and rising lightweight George Sotiropoulos, as Penn is expected to face welterweight contender Jon Fitch and Sotiropoulos will likely meet Dennis Siver at UFC 127 on Feb. 27 in Sydney, Australia.

UFC President Dana White announced the matchups at UFC 123′s post-fight press conference.

Penn (16-7-1) knocked out hall of famer Matt Hughes in just 21-second at UFC 123 in their anticipated rubber match to rebound from back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar, while Fitch (23-3), who was targeted to face Jake Ellenberger in February, has earned five-straight decision wins.

Both Sotiropoulos (14-2) and Siver (17-7) are coming off impressive submission wins, as the Australian Sotiropoulos tapped Joe Lauzon in the second-round of UFC 123′s “Fight of the Night” for his sixth-straight UFC win, while Siver stopped Andre Winner in the opening-round with the “Submission of the Night” last Saturday at UFC 122.

The UFC 127 fight card is also rumored to include Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera and Carlos Condit vs. Chris Lytle.

For the latest UFC 127 news and UFC 127 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: BJ Penn

For the second time in less than a week, Nick Diaz failed to show for a mandatory pre-fight drug test, with his Monday no-show causing him to be removed from his Saturday Strikeforce middleweight championship matchup against Jay Hieron. As reported earlier Monday, Diaz will be replaced on the August 15 "Carano vs. Cyborg" card in San Jose by one-time UFC fighter Jesse Taylor, who is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak. Taylor and Hieron will meet in a three-round, non-title fight on the Showtime-televised card. - [Read more]

Another knee surgery, this time to repair an injured MCL, will sideline UFC middleweight Patrick Cote through March of next year, according to a Monday report from MMA Weekly: "Cote said that he will go in for surgery on Wednesday, and that a likely return to the Octagon is a long ways off. “Not before February or March, for sure.”" - [Read more]

Newly-crowned WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles, who won the belt with a first-round knockout of previous title-holder Miguel Torres in the main event of Sunday’s WEC 42 event, suffered a broken left hand in the victory, but hopes to return in December, according to a Versus.com report:

Bowles’ manager, Andrew Beach, on Monday that the new WEC bantamweight champion broke his left hand at the very end of his fight against Torres.

Beach said that Bowles will visit a hand specialist in Atlanta on Tuesday. He added that the new 135-pound champion will not be able to use his left hand in training for approximately six-to-eight weeks, but will be able to do light grappling and cardio work sooner.

Bowles officially knocked Torres out with a series of left hands on the ground, and Beach confirmed that it was those punches which lead to the hand break.

As for when we should expect to see Bowles back in action, Beach said, “I know he would love to fight before the end of the year.

“If there’s a December card, I know he would like to fight on it.”

Though not yet confirmed, Bowles’ first title defense is expected to come against top 125-pound contender and fellow-WEC 42 winner Dominick Cruz, who topped Joseph Benavidez in the event’s co-headliner, though Torres, who had a 17-fight win streak snapped in the loss, could also be booked for an immediate rematch

Pictured: Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres at WEC 42

One-time UFC fighter and controversial TUF 7 cast member Jesse Taylor has reportedly been approved by the California State Athletic Commission to replace Nick Diaz and fight Jay Hieron at Saturdays "Carano vs. Cyborg" Strikeforce event in San Jose should Diaz fail to be licensed for the bout. - [Read more]

Theres no denying it. Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Dana White, Scott Coker and many, many more have made these past few weeks some of the most newsworthy in recent MMA history. And yet, yours truly neglected to comment on any of it. Not a word. So whats my excuse? You see, the UFC was finally coming to Philadelphia, my Philadelphia, and honestly, I couldnt focus on much else while cloaked in such thick layers of anticipation and anxiousness. I even declined to write up my standard predictions this time around, and Ill tell you why: No expectations. - [Read more]

Former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres was the top paid fighter at Saturdays WEC 42 event in Las Vegas, receiving $25,000 after losing his title to Brian Bowles via first-round knockout in the evenings main event. Bowles, Leonard Garcia, Shane Roller, and Rani Yahya were also among the top earners for the card, while Bowles, Yahya, Dominick Cruz, and Joesph Benavidez received $10,000 "Fight Night" bonuses for their performances at the event. - [Read more]

The last thing that Strikeforce’s August 15th “Carano vs. Cyborg” card needed was another line up change. It appears that scheduled combatant Nick Diaz(pictured) has taken some actions that may cause just that, and you guessed it, it’s related to his drug test. Diaz reportedly failed to show for his scheduled pre-fight testing on Wednesday, and his coach, Caesar Gracie, claimed that Diaz missed the appointment because he was “Busy training,” according to a report from www.f4wonline.com. Gracie then went on to claim that they had already rescheduled the screening with the CSAC for Monday(today), which the CSAC has since denied.

The problem with doing the testing today is that the CSAC has claimed that they would not have enough time to process the sample and get results prior to Friday’s weigh-ins for Saturdays event. In response to that there were claims, again from www.f4wonline.com, that Strikeforce was going to fly Diaz to LA to take the test, and then rush the sample to the UCLA testing lab. If the testing was completed and passed then Diaz would be on the card, if not then he would be off.

On today’s Media Call, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that there were contingency plans in place, and that that Diaz has until 3pm today to take his test and still be able to fight Saturday. Coker said there were two flights Diaz could take to arrive in order to take his test and should be on his way. Should Diaz fail to get licensed for the fight for any reason, Coker says his scheduled opponent Jay Hieron would still be fighting on the card, but whether the bout would remain a title fight would be addressed later, once it was determined whether or not Diaz showed up for his testing.

Click here to check out the latest Strikeforce rumors.

On Saturday, MMAFrenzy.com reported that Don Fry had pulled out of his M-1 Breakthrough bout, which had been moved from Los Angeles to Kansas. A replacement has been found to face his scheduled opponent, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at the event, in another aging legend, Mark Kerr.

Kerr is a 40 year old fighter that started his career with a 12-0 run including appearances at UFC 14 and UFC 15. However since December of 2000 he has managed two victories in eleven outings, including a current four fight losing streak.

Lawal is a young fighter with a strong collegiate wrestling background that is thus far undefeated in his four fight MMA career. All of his bouts have previously taken place under World Victory Road banner, in the Sengoku events taking place in Japan. Lawal’s bout with Kerr will make his pro US debut.

Also added to the August 28th card is a special exhibition match between Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi. The match is expected to be similar to the exhibition match held at an April M-1 Challenge/Deep event between Emelianenko and lightweight Shinya Aoki.

Though the event has been confirmed for Kansas City, there are still no reports of a confirmed venue.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest MMA news and MMA rumors.

[HT: MMAjunkie]

Brian Bowles became the new WEC bantamweight champion on Sunday in the main event of WEC 42, knocking out 125-pound title-holder and top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter Miguel Torres in the opening round of the main event at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Dominick Cruz, Danny Castillo, Takeya Mizugaki, and Leonard Garcia were also victorious on the WEC 42 main card. - [Read more]

A bantamweight championship bout between title-holder and top pound-for-pound fighter Miguel Torres and challenger Brian Bowles headlines Sundays WEC 42 event at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Follow along after the jump for live results from the 11-bout card, which is currently in progress... - [Read more]