UFC Announce 3 Huge Fights for UFC 92
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Originally Posted by MMANews.com
Yahoo Sports has confirmed with UFC President Dana White that three long rumored bouts are now official and set for UFC 92 on December 27th from the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
White confirmed that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueirawill defend the UFC Interim Heavyweight title against Frank Mir to cap off the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter and decide who will take the the winner of a November Heavyweight title fight between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar to decide who is the undisputed champion.
Forrest Griffin will make his first ever UFC Light Heavyweight title defense against Rashad Evans who earned the right to the shot with a devastating knock out win over Chuck Liddell in September.
And finally, Quintin "Rampage" Jackson will return to action since losing the title to Griffin to take on long time nemesis Wanderlei Silva. This will be the third bout between the two. Silva has won the previous bouts in highlight reel fashion.
The rest of the card that is rumored but not official is:
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jorge Rivera
Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Mustafa Al-Turk vs. Cheick Kongo
Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan
Ivan Serati vs. TBA
Lesnar Reps Give Mazzagatti Thumbs Down
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Originally Posted by Sherdog.com
Representatives for Brock Lesnar on Wednesday requested that the Nevada State Athletic Commission remove Steve Mazzagatti from consideration as referee for the upcoming five-round title fight between their client and UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture.
The anticipated bout, which pairs the hulking former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar with the UFC hall of famer, will headline UFC 91 on Nov. 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Citing Mazzagatti’s officiating in Lesnar’s UFC debut against Frank Mir in February, attorneys David Olsen and Brian Stegeman made their aversion to the referee’s presence known at a regularly scheduled NSAC meeting. The attorneys claimed Mazzagatti was “involved in what we believe was a controversial ruling in connection with the Mir-Lesnar fight.” They asked that Mazzagatti be removed from consideration for the UFC 91 main event to avoid “distraction” and “any further controversy.”
During the Lesnar-Mir match at UFC 81 -- a match Mir won by first-round submission -- Mazzagatti deducted a point from Lesnar for an illegal blow to the back of Mir’s head. Up to that point, Lesnar had dominated the former UFC champion and appeared to be on the verge of forcing a stoppage.
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer commended Mazzagatti for his work at UFC 81 and did not remove him from consideration.
“I think Mazzagatti did a great job that night,” Kizer said.
Along with Mazzagatti, Herb Dean, Josh Rosenthal and Mario Yamasaki were under consideration to officiate the Couture-Lesnar match. Yamasaki was ultimately awarded the bout, which marks the 45-year-old Couture’s return to the cage for the first time since he stopped Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga on strikes at UFC 74 in August 2007.
Correction: Sherdog.com initially reported that Kizer had granted the attorneys’ wishes to remove Mazzagatti from consideration, though Kizer later clarified the referee was still considered for the bout.
i thought it was lame when mazzagatti deducted that point from lesnar in the mir fight. it was only one or two shots to the back of the head in a flurry. the only reason it happened was cuz mir turned his head, it wasn't lesnar's fault.
Patrick Cote To Be Out Up To 8 Months Following Surgery
This following the disappointing end to the Cote v Silva fight at UFC 90:
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Originally Posted by MMANews.com
Patrick Cote, who was injured during his main event title bout with Anderson Silva last weekend at UFC 90 in Chicago will require surgery to his knee to repair the damage. His manager, Stephane Patry, gave the details to Sportsnet.ca:
"For him to be six to eight months off with that kind of surgery means that there's a lot of work to do in his knee," Stephane Patry, Cote's manager, told The Canadian Press on Monday from Montreal.
"We knew for a year that he needed surgery, but the timing wasn't right," Patry said. "Patrick wanted to go as far as he could with his knee because his career was going so well."
"So he came back to Montreal. We went to see the specialist. The specialist put the knee back in place and told him: 'Listen, you need that surgery, Patrick, and you need it now.' And Patrick was like 'Man, I have a title shot in three weeks. I can't do that to the UFC. I can't do that to myself, to my big chance. I'm not fighting a grappler, I'm fighting a striker. So can you do something?'
"He got a cortisone shot in his knee and did the fight."
Chris Leben Tests Positive For Steroids Following UFC 89
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Originally Posted by MMANews.com
Dave Meltzer has reported that UFC Middleweight Chris Leben has tested positive for steroids following his UFC 89 bout with Michael Bisping. Leben lost the fight via a decision.
The steroid that Leben has tested positive for was Stanazolol. This is the first time he has tested positive. All 22 fighters on the card were tested according to the report and Leben was the only positive test.
The tests were done in house by the UFC as the event took place in England and no formal commission such as the NSAC oversees drug testing.
“I am obviously disappointed with Chris, who has made great strides getting his life back on track,” UFC president Dana White told Meltzer. “To his credit, he has taken responsibility for his actions and is accepting the punishment that has been handed down. But as always, the UFC puts the safety of its athletes first and foremost, and we won’t tolerate anyone using performance enhancing drugs in our organization.”
Leben was handed a nine month suspension and fined one third of his pay.
this is really disappointing news to me too. i was pulling for him at ufc 89 but his obvious lackluster performance cost him the match. he seemed to be finally heading in the right direction in his life and then this...
Update On Christian Cage Leaving TNA For WWE
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Originally Posted by WrestlingNewsWorld.com
TNA taped an angle that will air on this Thursday's edition of Impact last night where Christian Cage was beaten down by Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Scott Steiner to close the show. This was done to give the company an opportunity to write Christian off of television should he opt to re-sign with WWE when his contract with TNA Wrestling expires next month.
TNA does not want to get caught in a situation like they did with Gail Kim where the news had broke that she was leaving the company before her final match aired. TNA is playing it safe and will write Christian back into television should he end up re-signing with them.
There is nothing new to what has already been reported other than Christian has told TNA officials that WWE is pursuing him and that he is seriously considering accepting their offer. Christian does not have any ill will against anyone in TNA Wrestling and is making the decision completely based on what is financially best for him and his family.
Anderson Silva vs Chuck Liddell Possible For UFC95 In London
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Originally Posted by TheSun.co.uk
UFC 95 will hit the capital two weeks after the BJ Penn v Georges St Pierre mega fight which takes place on SuperBowl weekend.
Last month, our friends at Fighters Only Magazine revealed Dana White's promotion were planning to head back to England following the success of UFC 85 in June, and the news has now been verified by industry insiders.
SunSport understands Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, 33, has been asked to appear on the card, with a potential bout with light heavyweight star Chuck Liddell already being mooted.
That potentially mouthwatering clash would see The Spider step up to the 205lbs division to face 38-year-old Liddell - who is desperate to get back on the victory trail following his devastating loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 88.
Liddell was slated to fight Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua at UFC 85 but injuries to both men put that clash on ice.
And with Rua set to face Mark Coleman in Ireland at UFC 93, a Liddell v Silva clash looks a real possibility.
A raft of British fighters will be asked to appear on the UFC 95 bill, with welterweight star Dan Hardy already keen to be involved.
However, Michael Bisping will NOT be part of the line up as he will be filming season nine of The Ultimate Fighter.
The UFC will make an official announcement tomorrow but explosive English lightweight Terry Etim has already signed up to face American Justin Buchholz.
holy shit liddell vs silva would be a good fight.
