When I read that the winner of the Michael Bisping-Dan Henderson bout was guaranteed a title shot against Anderson Silva I was angry, then confused, excited and it left me scratching my head in amazement. I believe Henderson deserves another crack at Silva, I truly think he has the style to give him a run for his money. Obviously we didn’t see it play out in their first bout but I still think he has the tools to beat The Spider. Even if Bisping is able to defeat Henderson he will get destroyed by Silva. He does not possess the necessary attributes to hang with Silva at all.

Beyond that what about the winner of the Marquardt-Maia match-up at UFC 102? If Maia wins wouldn’t that warrant him a shot at the title or is Dana worried we will get a repeat performance of the Leites-Silva bout. Sorry but Maia is better than Leites in my opinion and I don’t believe he will resort to flopping on his back every time Silva gets near him. Marquardt has some awesome skills, I truly believe the fans underestimate his overall skill set. He is a much better fighter now than he was when he first fought Silva. Instead of giving a title shot away why not have the winners of the two upcoming bouts square off and the man who reigns supreme gets the next crack at Silva?

The UFC maybe heading back to Texas sometime this fall. Just what I wanted to hear. Although my thirst for live UFC action will be quenched when I attend UFC 101 in August it still pains me that I live in one of the biggest markets in the world and we still can’t get mixed martial arts legalized in NY. Although I do have some good news on that front.

Apparently the bill was passed by a 14-6 margin by the Tourism Committee today. Now it has to go in front of the Codes Committee whatever that is. At least it’s a start and I am sure Assemblyman Bob Reilly is so pissed right now that it has gotten past the first round. Here we are in 2009 and the man is still referring to mixed martial arts as “Human Cockfighting”. He has the audacity to call UFC President Dana White ruthless but still allows a man like Don King to operate as a promoter in NY.

So Frank Trigg is returning to the UFC. Twinkle Toes was last seen in the Octagon losing to GSP back in August of 2005 which left his UFC record at 2-3. Since then he is 7-2 with victories over Jason Miller, Kazuo Misaki and Edwin Dewees while losing to Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit. Being that he just turned 37 and is dropping back down to 170 I don’t know what type of impact he plans on making in a stacked welterweight division. There is a lot of young blood who will look to make a nice name for themselves by defeating a veteran like Trigg so I hope he comes prepared.

Lots of MMA this weekend with the Strikeforce card on Showtime this Saturday and an awesome WEC event on Vs. this Sunday headlined by a rematch for the organizations featherweight title between champion Mike Brown and the man he took the belt from Urijah Faber. I had hardly heard of Brown before their first fight. Brown followed up that victory with an even more impressive thrashing of Leonard Garcia in front of Garcia’s hometown fans in Texas. Brown is so powerful and so steady which presents a problem for anyone who gets in the cage with him. Faber has the speed advantage and is so unpredictable but to be honest I think Brown is going to pull this one off again. Sometimes one fighter just has another fighter’s number. As usual we the fans are the true victors in all of this as not only do we get to see some great action but we get to see it free.

I would like to take this time to wish the Brothers Noguiera a Happy 33rd birthday. Two great warriors who are not only terrific fighters but true ambassadors for the sport.

Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter! While everyone is predicting a ratings bonanza, I on the other hand don’t feel as though he will deliver the strong ratings that many feel he will bring in.

First, he hasn’t been seen or spoken about all that much since his loss to Seth Petruzelli and the controversy that swirled around the bout afterwards.

Second, most fans both casual and die hard have grown tired of his act and realize he is not a legitimate mixed martial artist.

Will it be interesting to see him interact with fighters who may hold a grudge against him? Of course it will, I am looking forward to seeing him work with Rampage as that should lead to some quality television and perhaps some “Black on Black” crime. Do I feel as though he has any chance of being a legitimate contestant? Absolutely not, the other fighters will look to expose him as soon and as often as possible.

So Cro-Cop vs. Mustapha Al-Turk is official. Talk about taking it down to the wire, with just under two weeks left until game time Cro-Cop and the UFC left themselves little room for error. They also gave themselves very little time to promote the return of the former PRIDE standout to the Octagon.

What does the Cro-Cop of 2009 have to offer? That remains to be seen but I have a feeling he will show up in great shape with a lot to prove. That tells me Al-Turk is in for a long night and that Eastern European UFC fans will leave Germany extremely happy.

EA Sports has decided to throw its name into the MMA video game genre. I am not a gamer and I rarely if ever play video games. Not that I don’t enjoy them, but between working and running two kids around to karate, soccer, dance, cheerleading and various other activities, I just don’t have the time. I bought a Nintendo Wii and it now resides in my 4 year old son’s bedroom.

I did go out and purchase an X-Box 360 and UFC Undisputed. I had to, and I was not disappointed, well that was until my 4 year old kicked the crap out of me after playing it less than 24 hours.

EA Sports has been making quality sports video games for a long time now and their Fight Night boxing series is one of the top sports games out there from what I have seen and heard. I have no reason to believe their MMA game will be any different.

I read that some fans were not interested due to the fact that it won’t have any UFC fighters in it. Who cares? Think of all the other great fighters available that are not on Undisputed. Fedor, Couture, Belfort, Cung Le and so many others from Strikeforce, Affliction, Sengoku and DREAM. I could go on and on but I won’t.

I read somewhere that Pat Miletich wants to fight Frank Shamrock under the Strikeforce banner. I have no desire to see this bout at this time in their careers.

Shamrock at this stage in his career has one fight left that I would like to see and that would be against Tito Ortiz. I loved their first fight and believe me, I know that neither man is even close to the fighter they were back then but I truly believe they would bring out the best in one another and put on a quality fight.

After that, Shamrock should retire and concentrate on training a new legion of mixed martial artists. Miletich should stick to training and drawing the ire of Dana White.

I love how everyone and their mother is coming out of the woodworks talking about how they would beat Lyoto Machida. Like it is so easy, if that’s the case why hasn’t the man been defeated yet?

First it was Mark Coleman who should concentrate on getting past Stephan Bonnar first.

Up next we had Matt Hughes chiming in on what Rashad Evans did wrong in his preparation for his title fight with “The Dragon”.

Last but not least we have B.J. Penn throwing his two cents in. Many of you may not know this but Penn fought Machida at 205lbs in 2005 under the K-1 Hero’s banner. While I have never seen the bout I have done some research on it and Penn was somewhat successful in landing his fair share of strikes but he still lost. Granted he was fighting 50lbs over his normal fighting weight and should be commended on the fact that he went the distance with a much bigger man who even back then was extremely difficult to hit but he still lost the fight.

Who’s next? Maybe Ken Shamrock will try his hand at Machida once his suspension for steroid use is over. Fighters should keep their thoughts to themselves in the event they do wind up fighting him. Why would you want to let him in on whatever game plan you would attempt to implement anyway?

Strikeforce will be holding their second card on Showtime this Saturday and it is packed with exciting fights. Not only is this a fantastic card but it’s free. Well, it is for those of us who have Showtime.

I really like what Strikeforce is doing and I am excited about the future of the organization. Scott Coker is a man who knows the game, the business and the fighters. We should all be happy that he is now getting to showcase his organization on a greater stage.

Patrick Cote, the first man in the UFC to take Anderson Silva past the second round, has signed a new four fight deal with the organization.

Sources close to the negotiations have recently confirmed the news to MMAweekly.com.

Cote, who blew his knee out in the third round of his title fight with Silva at UFC 90 last October, is hoping to make his return to the octagon sometime this fall. Reports state that he may be fight at UFC 104 which will take place this October from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Cote holds a career record of 13-5 overall and is 4-5 in the UFC. He had a rather ominous beginning to his UFC career back in 2004. The Canadian born fighter was 5-0 at the time while fighting for organizations in Canada and was called on to fill in at the last minute against former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 50. Although he lost the bout via unanimous decision he certainly held his own against a much bigger more experienced opponent.

Cote fought once more for the TKO organization in Canada before he was offered another bout with the UFC. Unfortunately Cote went on to lose his next two bouts inside the octagon and made his way back up north to get a few wins under his belt. He participated on season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter and made it to the finale where he lost to Travis Lutter putting his UFC record at 0-4. He would then go on to win his next 5 bouts. Four of those victories were for the UFC. He earned himself a shot at Silva and the middleweight championship with an uninspiring split decision victory over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 in July of 2008.

He was an extremely heavy underdog going into his fight with the Spider. Although he made it to the third round he never had Silva in any danger and it seems as though Silva was toying around the whole time which drew sharp criticism from the fans, other fighters and UFC officials.

Cote has been rehabbing his knee since he had surgery to repair the injury to his knee. He has began training and is now splitting his time with his camp in Montreal and Mark DellaGrotte in Boston.

Monday’s always suck for me. The weekends go by way too fast and I feel as though no matter how much I accomplished over the course of two days it is never enough.

I spent the weekend thinking about The Ultimate Fighter Season Ten and why Rashad Evans was chosen to coach opposite Rampage Jackson. This was the perfect opportunity for the UFC to get Lyoto Machida the mainstream attention he not only needs but rightfully deserves. Not only is Rampage losing out by getting passed up again for a title shot, we the fans are losing out as well.

I know a lot of MMA fans who weren’t familiar with Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera before his stint on TUF. They knew who he was as a fighter but had no idea who the man behind the fighter was. Thankfully the UFC gave us that opportunity, and I believe he gained a whole new legion of fans since the show aired. Machida could have benefitted in much the same manner but now we get stuck with having to watch Rashad Evans who possesses absolutely no charisma and lacks any sort of personality.

Last but not least in this whole story is, why is Shogun getting a title shot? If anything stick him on the show against Rampage and have them fight it out. Not only would the world get to know Shogun a little bit better but the two of them already have heat and Rampage has been dying for an opportunity to redeem himself from that brutal loss a few years back. Shogun’s UFC stint has been highlighted by knockout victories over two aging fighters in Chuck Liddell and Mark Coleman. I am sorry to say but defeating Chuck Liddell in 2009 is not the same as it was in 2006. He has not earned a title shot by any stretch of the imagination.

For those of you who are basketball fans you may have caught the controversy started when LeBron James did not offer any congratulatory words or shake any of the Magic players hands after losing the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. In an interview James did he said he is a competitor and could not find it in him to shake the hands of the players who had just defeated him. He went on to say if it was a fight would you shake the hand of the guy who just beat you up? Watch MMA LeBron and see how true professional athletes act whether they win or lose. These little things need to get more attention and maybe if they do people will start to understand how special this sport truly is and how gracious these athletes really are.

Matt Hughes chimed in on the Machida-Evans fight. Ok, he is a legend and has been around the sport a long time so I tend to listen to what he has to say for the most part. To criticize Greg Jackson who many consider one of the best trainers in the sport is wrong. Hughes went on to say that he didn’t believe that the decision not to bring any fighters who resembled Machida’s style was the former champions downfall. Well tell me Hughes, who out there can even attempt to copy Machida’s style? He also said that Rashad should have been coached on his wrestling. Another point that goes out the window as Machida defends over 80% of his opponents takedown attempts. Stick to fighting Hughes, well actually please don’t.

Last but not least, Tim Sylvia is talking about switching to boxing full time if his bout against 99 year old Ray Mercer goes his way. The former UFC heavyweight champion said that the money is better and boxing doesn’t require as much training as MMA does. That tells me he is looking to make as much money for doing as little work as possible. I don’t see how he can top his $750k payday for his 36 seconds of work against Fedor last year. Tim, you were paid over $20k per second against Fedor, you will never come close to making that type of money again in either sport. He thinks he has what it takes to fight some of the heavyweight champions in boxing, adding that some of the paydays top $10 million. He must still be woozy from the beating he received that fateful night last July.

The UFC has added another body to their heavyweight division as they signed Chicago police officer Mike Russow.

The UFC has not announced the signing, but The Times of Northwest Indiana revealed the addition of Russow to the UFC heavyweight roster in a blog post.

Russow, who has seen action in PRIDE as well as Adrenaline MMA, was last seen defeating Braden Bice on Adrenaline’s second card in December of last year. The Chicago native is 11-1 in his career with his biggest win coming against Jason Guida in June of 2008. His only loss was against Sergei Kharitonov at Pride 33 in February of 2007.

Although no opponent has been confirmed it is believed that Russow will make his organizational debut at UFC Fight Night 19 on September 16 in Oklahoma City. The former state wrestling champion has won eight fights via submission, two  by knockout and one by decision. Russow attended Lincoln College which is the same school that former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes attended.

The deal is believed to be a four fight deal although not terms have yet to be confirmed.

According to multiple reports Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will square off against the newly crowned light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at in October.

According to the reports Rua had been in Las Vegas meeting with UFC officials to work on a new contract for the former PRIDE superstar.

Rua has had his share of ups and downs since joining the UFC after the organization purchased PRIDE back in 2007. He lost his debut to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76 in September of 2007 and then underwent two knee surgeries that would keep him out of action until this past January when he defeated 44 year old Mark Coleman via third round TKO at UFC 93. Although the two were awarded a “Fight of the Night” bonus the bout was universally criticized as were both combatants. The two fighters seemed gassed by the middle of the first round and the fact that it took Rua just under the full 15 minutes to put a guy away who was not only 16 years older than he was but had not fought in over two years did not leave a good impression at all.

Rua went on to score a first round TKO over an aging Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 in April.

Machida of course is coming off a resounding knockout of the previously undefeated light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans last Saturday night at UFC 98. Machida, who was criticized in the beginning of his UFC career for being too elusive and boring, has now become one of the most feared fighters as well as one of the most exciting competitors as well. He earned his second “Knockout of the Night” bonus in his bout with Evans as he ran his UFC record to 7-0. His overall record now stands at an outstanding 15-0. He has defeated the likes of Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn and Stephan Bonnar outside of the octagon. His victims in the UFC include Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, Tito Ortiz, and Thiago Silva to name a few.

Fresh off an eventful card that took place this morning at DREAM 9, DREAM has announced a couple of unexpected match-ups for the organizations tenth event scheduled for July 20.

Shinya Aoki, who is coming off a knockout loss to Hayato Sakurai in the first round of the DREAM welterweight grand prix, will be returning to the lightweight division to take on Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro. Ribeiro was last seen defeating Katsuhiko Nagata on the same Dream 8 card that Aoki and Sakurai fought against one another on.

Also appearing on the card will be the return of Paulo Filho to Japan as he squares off against devastating kickboxer Melvin Manhoef.

Filho, the former Pride superstar has had his share of problems over the past year. He has dealt with substance abuse problems and suffered his first defeat when he lost to Chael Sonnen at WEC 36 back in November of 2008. That bout was a rematch of their first fight which Filho won via tapout. For their second fight Filho failed to make weight and seemed somewhere else during the fight and many questioned his mental status at the time. He has since decided to move up to the light heavyweight division and will face a stiff test in Manhoef.

Manhoef has been keeping busy as he was victorious against Stefan Leko in a kickboxing match on May 16 in Amsterdam. His last MMA bout was against Mark Hunt on FEG’s K-1 Dynamite New Year’s Eve show. He defeated the much bigger Hunt via knockout in just 18 seconds. He is primarily an aggressive  stand-up fighter with extraordinary striking skills.

Also announced is a lightweight tilt between Katsunori Kikuno and Andre Amade.

Kikuno will be making his DREAM debut while Amade participated in the lightweight grand prix where he lost to Eddie Alvarez by first round TKO.

First there was a statement from Affliction VP Tom Atencio stating Fedor Emelianenko would be fighting Josh Barnett at the third Affliction scheduled for August.

Next Tim Sylvia said he was fighting an unnamed opponent for an organization he could not reveal sometime in August.

Now MMAJunkie.com is reporting based on sources close to the event that Chris Horodecki will take on Dan Lauzon at Affliction III in August.

It is safe to assume that Affliction will be holding their third event in August.

Horodecki and Lauzon were scheduled to face off at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” in January but Horodecki was unable to receive medical clearance due to a neck injury.

Lauzon, the younger brother of UFC lightweight contender Joe Lauzon, has made quite a name for himself fighting predominately for World Championship Fighting in Massachusetts. To this day he is still the youngest fighter to participate in a UFC event. He was just 18 years old when he took on Spencer Fisher at UFC 64. Fisher was victorious in that bout via first round TKO. Lauzon was last seen submitting Bobby Green who was tapped as a replacement for Horodecki at Affliction II. Lauzon holds an impressive 12-2 record.

Horodecki will be fighting William Sriyapai at “Fight Force: Ultimate Chaos” on June 27. The event which will feature a main event between Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp, will also see Afflcition VP Tom Atencio fighting in his second MMA bout.

Affliction III is expected for for August 1 and will emanate from the Honda Center in Anaheim California.

Having followed this sport very closely over the past few years it goes without saying that I really love watching two mixed marital artists climb into the cage and slug it out. However, I have to admit that getting my friends into it the way I am has been a little difficult. Most of them enjoy watching it but won’t go out of their way to watch a pay-per-view or UFC Fight Night. They will catch bits and pieces but to get them glued to the television the way I am has been something that I have yet to accomplish. That is until last night and the UFC 98 card.

I invited a few people over and the usual suspects found excuses as the time approached to not be able to make it but I was able to get two people to stick to the invite and give the card a shot. I preached long and hard about the potential blockbuster main event and how I believed the critics would be wrong and it would produce fireworks. I sold them on the exciting potential of the lightweight clash between Frankie Edgar and Sean Sherk. Being from Long Island I didn’t have to sell long and hard about the animosity between NY native Matt Serra and future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.

Before the show started I scored some points by putting on UFC Undisputed 2009 and allowing my four year old son to school my two 30 something year old friends inside the virtual octagon. I have to say the realistic nature of the game got everyone instantly pumped for some hard hitting mixed martial arts action. Even my wife was asking questions.

At 9:30 the UFC showed why they are the leader in the industry by previewing the fights, specifically the light heavyweight title bout between Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida and the grudge match two years in the making between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes. They do a fantastic job of getting you excited.

I must tell you that the two people I had over aren’t noobs to the sport. In fact one of them even attended UFC 94, but they aren’t normally the type to sit for three hours thoroughly involved in what’s going on. They find reasons to get distracted and take way too many smoke breaks. They know who the combatants are but they needed some refresher courses on what each fighter has been up to and who they last fought. Of course I don’t mind telling them in explicit detail as I feel as though that is my job. As the card is about to start we score again as both my children have fallen asleep.

The Edgar vs. Sherk bout was a good choice for openers. I went over each fighter’s qualities focusing on their wrestling backgrounds. I explained that while Sherk was the more experienced and the stronger of the two he has shown a penchant for keeping his fights standing recently and was content on turning his fights into a kickboxing match. I further explained that I felt that Edgar was at a severe disadvantage in size and would be better suited at 145 pounds in the WEC. Boy was I wrong and I am more than happy to admit that as Edgar fought a perfect fight and made the fight look easy. Now these two are excited as the underdog won and did so in outstanding fashion.

Up next was Chael Sonnen vs. Dan Miller and I explained to them the virtues of both fighters. Miller, the New Jersey native who possesses outstanding submission skills who had won his last ten decisions against Sonnen, the uncrowned WEC middleweight champion who was a strong Greco-Roman wrestler. Neither one of them was familiar with either fighter and I told them that Miller would come out on top due to Sonnen’s inability to stay out of danger when it comes to being submitted. While Miller was able to put a scare into Sonnen on a few occasions Sonnen stuck to a solid plan and ground and pounded his way to a win. There were some ooh’s and aah’s whenever Sonnen landed some of those vicious elbows and punches to the fallen Miller.

Drew McFedries vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam was over before it started and one of my friends based upon the highlight reel shown before ths start of the bout correctly proclaimed that McFedries would deliver a devastating 1st round knockout. Although both men were impressed with Foupa-Pokam’s knees shown in his highlights neither man thought he had enough to stand a chance against McFedries and they both were right. The Miletich student showed why the UFC keeps him around due to his put it all on the line go for broke style.

Fast forward to Hughes vs. Serra as we took a break during the Soszynski-Gusmao bout but we came back in just in time to see the devastating finish. Even after the knockout delivered by The Polish Experiment I was unable to sell either man on his abilities even though I was more than clear that he was not going to ever be a championship contender. The pre-fight hype leading up to the Hughes-Serra bout was fantastic and once again had us sitting on the edge of the couches waiting in anticipation for the bout to begin. I can’t say that we were disappointed in the fight but we were less than enthused watching Hughes lay on top of Serra for the majority of the second round while inflicting little damage. The first round and third rounds had some exciting moments but the fight fell short of the fireworks we were waiting for.

At last it’s main event time and thankfully one of my friends knew a lot about both Machida and Evans. The three of us were in agreement that Machida was the favorite and that Evans was in for a long night. I explained to them that based upon the way Evans came out on his walk to the cage and his ridiculous dancing once inside the octagon that he looked to be nervous and was trying to hide that fact. Meanwhile Machida was looking strong, confident and stoic. The first two minutes left a lot to be desired as both men were waiting for the other to engage. Then like a bat out of hell the fireworks began as Machida did what no one else has been able to do and figured out the Rashad Evans puzzle. He was landing his shots at will and was not wasting any unnecessary energy all the while never putting himself in danger.

Watching Machida work was just what I needed to turn two more than casual fans into what I believe to be hardcore dedicated fans last night. By the time Evans was sent crashing to the canvas Machida and the UFC had two more fans that asked me if there were any spots left in the suite that I was going to be in at UFC 101.

What a night, knockouts, some strong submissions and a couple of upsets. Yes there were two undercard fights left but by that time we were heavily involved in conversation about who would give Machida his toughest test. I also explained to them that we would now get to see Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 leading to a bout between the two after the show was completed.

So spending $49.95 last night not only meant that I could share the joy that is the UFC not just for this particular card but for future shows as well. Most of my friends are stubborn and content with baseball, football or whatever sport they are watching in a particular season. I have tried to convert a few of them but they are set in their ways and too lazy to invest the time to get to know these great athletes. They obviously do not know what they are missing. Last night the two friends that took the time to watch and ask questions went home in awe and eagerly anticipating next month’s UFC 99. I can mark down two more for that show and all other shows from here on in beginning with Strikeforce card featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields in June.

At last night’s post fight conference following UFC 98, UFC president Dana White announced plans for the UFC to return to California.

UFC 104 which is scheduled for October 24 will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The last time the UFC held a show in Los Angeles was UFC 60 which marked the return of UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie to the octagon as he faced off against then welterweight champion Matt Hughes in a catchweight bout of 175lbs. Hughes was dominant and showed just how far MMA had evolved when he earned a first round TKO of Gracie.

The Staples Center has a capacity of 20,000 and is currently the home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers as well as hockey’s Los Angeles Kings. The arena has also been home to some big boxing matches including some Oscar De La Hoya fights.

This won’t be the first trip back west for the UFC as they held UFC 63 & UFC 76 in Anaheim and UFC 65 & UFC 73 in Sacramento.

Speculation was running rampant after the first Strikeforce card on Showtime that their heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem would be defending his title on the June 6 card against Brett Rogers.

Overeem’s manager Bas Boon described the the events that played the deciding factor in Overeem no being able to take that bout.

“Alistair attended some famous dance club with his brother Valentine. Went to the toilet and did not have coins to pay the toilet woman. Alistair told her he would pay a euro when he came back, because he did not have change. Then the security guard who was near by started to get involved,” wrote Boon.

“Brother Valentine saw the incident and also started asking what the problem was. They offered to pay, but by then 6 security guards came over surrounding them. The Overeem brothers were asked to leave, Alistair was already outside when he saw his brother Valentine fighting.

“Valentine still was discussing the situation on his way outside with one of the security guards hit Valentine in the face with a flash light. Three security guards dived onto Valentine and brother Alistair wanted to go back inside to help his brother. This resulted in five security guards in the hospital.”

There is no word on how long it will take the injury to heal but Strikeforce did a fantastic job of finding a replacement for the June 6 card.

All 22 fighters have weighed in today as UFC 98 is just over 24 hours away.

Headlined by a UFC light heavyweight title bout between champion Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida UFC 98 will air tomorrow night at 10pm on pay-per-view.

In the co-main event two former welterweight champions will meet in a bout that has been two years in the making. Matt Serra will finally get it on with Matt Hughes. They were originally scheduled to fight back in December of 2007 at UFC 79 when Serra was still UFC welterweight champion.

As noted earlier here on FiveOuncesOfPain.com, Mike Pyle has stepped in for Chris Wilson and will face Brock Larson in a welterweight bout.

Pyle did not weigh in during the official weigh-ins and when he did, he came in at 172. It was ruled that Pyle would proceed without penalty as he took the fight with little time to prepare.

Here are the full results of the weigh-ins held earlier today.

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (204)
Matt Hughes (170) vs. Matt Serra (171)
Chael Sonnen (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Sean Sherk (156) vs. Frank Edgar (155)
Xavier Foupas-Pokam (186) vs. Drew McFedries (185)
Brock Larson (171) vs. Mike Pyle (172)
Tim Hague (263) vs. Patrick Barry (237)
Phillipe Nover (156) vs. Kyle Bradley (156)
Andre Gusmao (206) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (206)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (171) vs. Brandon Wolff (170)
Dave Kaplan (156) vs. George Roop (154)

The bout that MMA fans have been waiting to see for some time now may be coming to fruition this August.

Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett have verbally agreed to meet at the next Affliction event tentatively scheduled for August 1 according to a recent report by MMA Fanhouse. The event is to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Fedor has been Affliction’s golden boy and he has delivered in two outstanding performances on his part. At the first Affliction event in July of 2008 he dismantled former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds. This past January at “The Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view he knocked out another former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in the first round.

Josh Barnett has competed on both cards as well defeating Pedro Rizzo and then Gilbert Yvel. The two also fought for Pride and there was talk back then of a Barnett-Fedor bout but it obviously never happened. Some have speculated that the two share a close friendship and have been hesitant to fight each other. Regardless this is the only bout that makes sense for Affliction in what could be its last hurrah.

Also rumored for the unnamed event is a fight featuring Gegard Mousassi who won the Dream middleweight grand prix but has since decided to move up to the light heavyweight division. His opponent is none other than the “Phenom” Vitor Belfort who has currently been fighting at middleweight but has fought at 205lbs in the past.

Belfort has been impressive in his last two bouts as he knocked out Terry Martin in the second round of the inaugural Affliction card and then completely devastated perennial top 10 middleweight Matt Lindland with a left hand just seconds into their bout at “Day of Reckoning” leaving Lindland unconscious for sometime on the canvas.

Tim Sylvia who is taking part in a boxing match with 47 year old former world champion Ray Mercer next month in Alabama is rumored to be on the card as well. His opponent may be either Gilbert Yvel or Paul Buentello.

Dream 9, which is scheduled for May 26, may be the best card the young organization has put on yet. With second round featherweight grand prix bouts coupled along with the debut of the open-weight “Super Hulk” tournament Dream is packing a serious punch this time around.

Fans will see the debut of the ever popular featherweight Norifuni “Kid” Yamamoto as he was given a first round bye and will battle Joe Warren.

Many fans around the world have been clamoring for Yamamoto to join the ranks of the WEC where he could battle top featherweights Urijah Faber, WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia just to name a few.

Warren is coming off a successful MMA debut at Dream 7 where he defeated WEC veteran Chase Beebe via first round TKO. Warren won the 2006 World Championships in Greco-Roman wrestling and was due to enter the 2007 tournament but had his dreams dashed when he was suspended for testing positive for marijuana for a second time.

Another exciting bout is the rematch between Jason Miller and Renaldo “Jacare” Souza which will be for the vacant Dream middleweight title. The two fought at Dream 4 in the middleweight grand prix quarterfinals. Miller became the only man to go the distance with Souza losing to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt by unanimous decision. Miller went on to retire which didn’t last long and Souza went to the finals where he lost to Gegard Mousasi.

Mousassi has since vacated the title and will participate in the Super Hulk tournament facing off against Mark Hunt.

Also participating in the open weight tournament is disgraced former major league baseball player Jose Canseco as he faces off against Hong Man Choi who is famous for dancing down to the ring with girls by his side as well as losing to both Cro-Cop and Fedor Emelianenko.

Others participating in the tournament are Bob Sapp, Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa, Jan Nortje and Rameau Thierry Sokodjou.

Below is a complete list of the bouts expected for the card.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (for vacant middleweight title)

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren- Second Round Featherweight Grand Prix

Bibiano Fernandes vs. Masakazu Imanari- Second Round Featherweight Grand Prix

Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya- Second Round Featherweight Grand Prix

Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro- Second Round Featherweight Grand Prix

Gesias “JZ” Cavalvante vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

Mark Hunt vs. Gegard Mousasi- First Round Super Hulk Tournament

Jan Nortje vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- First Round Super Hulk Tournament

Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi- First Round Super Hulk Tournament

Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa vs. Bob Sapp- First Round Super Hulk Tournament

The UFC continues to be besieged by injuries as we can now add Heath Herring to the ever growing list of fighters unable to make it to fight night.

According to MMA Fanhouse Herring will not be able to face off against Cain Velasquez next month at UFC 99 in Germany due to an illness he has been suffering from for weeks which has left him unable to train.

The UFC has announced on their website today that Cheick Kongo will replace Herring and take on Velasquez at UFC 99. Kongo who is riding a three fight winning streak was last seen at UFC 97 in April where he defeated Antoni Hardonk by second round TKO. There has been some speculation that Kongo would receive a title shot sometime in the near future and a win over Velasquez will only add fuel to those flames.

Herring who hasn’t fought since being dismantled by current UFC champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 last August was to be Velasquez’s toughest opponent to date.

The young up and coming All-American wrestler from Arizona State is seen as the future of the UFC heavyweight division and a bout with Herring was surely going to show everyone what he is really made of. In his last bout against Denis Stojnic at UFC Fight Night in February Velasquez imposed his will and earned knockout of the night honors with a second round TKO.

Although he has yet to decide whether or not he is going to retire, Chuck Liddell could very likely be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July at their historic UFC 100 event.

In an interview with Fighter’s Only Magazine, UFC President Dana White hinted at the very real possibility of Liddell being one of the two new members going into the UFC’s Hall of Fame.

White would only give a maybe and a possibly when pressed for a more definitive answer. He went on to say he was waiting to see what they were going to do with Liddell and how they were going to do it. White had made an a previous announcement stating that there would be two new inductees at UFC 100 and ever since then rumors have been flying as to who those individuals would be.

Many people have made the case for former middleweight champion the late great Evan Tanner who perished in a California desert last September. Tanner battled through his personal demons and primarily taught himself the skills that would make him a champion and endear him to fans all across the world. Tanner came back from a hiatus in March of 2008 but lost to Yushin Okami in his first fight in almost two years. Three months later Tanner fought a much younger and bigger opponent in Kendall Grove to a split decision in what would be his last hurrah in the octagon. Overall he was 32-8 with victories over Paul Buentello, Heath Herring, Phil Baroni (2), Robbie Lawler and David Terrell.

Charles”Mask” Lewis who was the charismatic founder of the TapouT clothing line that has become synonymous with mixed martial arts is also widely believed to be a favorite for induction. Lewis had a smile that could light up any room that he walked into and gave support to fighters who a lot of other companies would not even consider getting involved with. He always said that he wasn’t concerned with wins or losses but rather the effort that a fighter gave. His tragic death on a California road in March was felt throughout the entire MMA community and his presence cage side will certainly be missed for a long time to come.

Another UFC legend thought to be under consideration is long time welterweight champion Matt Hughes who will take on Matt Serra this Saturday at UFC 98. Hughes who is an incredible 13-4 inside the octagon and has had two separate reigns as the welterweight champion has long been a favorite of Dana White. He has defeated such stars as Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Frank Trigg (2), Sean Sherk, Royce Gracie, Carlos Newton (2), Dave Menne and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. If Hughes does retire after his bout with Serra it would make a lot of sense to see him inducted in July.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Godfather Helio Gracie who recently passed away has been talked about as a possible candidate. The father of UFC legend and Hall of Famer Royce Gracie would be an excellent choice for induction. Whomever is bestowed with the honor of being an entrant into the Hall of Fame will certainly be deserving and will join a select group of fighters that include Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, and Royce Gracie.

How many more states are going to blow by NY and reap the rewards from legalizing MMA?

Indiana will be the next state to sanction mixed martial effective July 1according to a recent report by MMA Fanhouse.

Apparently Indiana has allowed mixed martial arts events but they were never governed by a sanctioning body or commission. After the vote is ratified a new athletic commission will be put in place to oversee all MMA events from July 1 on. Indiana is the home to such fighters as WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres as well as UFC fighters Jake O’Brien and Chris Lytle.

New York which has some serious proponents against the sport has been a target of the UFC for a long time and the organization has been hopeful of holding an event in the state sometime late this year.

New York assemblyman Bob Reilly has been leading the charge against legalizing the sport in the state even though he appears to have absolutely no clue what the sport is really about.

The NY assembly will be meeting later this month and the bill to pass MMA is expected to be on the agenda.

The UFC has spent a lot of money trying to educate the people of NY about the sport. Home grown talent such as Matt Serra and Phillipe Nover have made many public appearances and commercials trying to garner support for the vote.

Pennsylvania legalized MMA earlier this year and the UFC has already scheduled a blockbuster event for August at the Wachovia Center. Hawaii which has been the home for many organizations including Rumble on the Rock as well as the home of UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn passed a bill that will see the sport sanctioned sometime this year.

With states such as Oregon, which will be home to UFC 102, and Arizona which has been rumored for UFC 103, bringing in millions of dollars in tax revenue other states are clearly smartening up and jumping on the MMA bandwagon which is as hot as it has ever been even in this rough economy.

Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva once had a tight bond while both were members of Chute Box Academy. These days they are bitter enemies who are on a collision path.

In an interview done by Fighters Only Magazine, Wanderlei Silva, who is no doubt upset that Anderson has decided to help Rich Franklin prepare for his fight with the Axe Murderer, offered to put $50,000 of his own money in a bet with The Spider saying he will knock Franklin out within two rounds.

“If Anderson believes in Franklin so much, bet U$ 50,000 and let’s see who takes the money,” the former PRIDE champion was quoted as saying.

The controversy started when Anderson had issues with Wanderlei’s decision to drop down to the middleweight division. He went as far as to call the move pretentious. This has only stoked the flames about a possible fight between the two.

It was reported a few weeks back that Franklin would be spending some time in Los Angeles training with Anderson who defeated Ace twice, both times by vicious knockout. Wanderlei has had his own call to arms as he is training with Demian Maia, Heath Herring, Mike Whitehead and his old coach from Chute Box, Rafael Cordeiro. Wanderlei also extended invitations to train with him to Paulo Filho and his old nemesis Ricardo Arona. Arona turned down the opportunity at this time but Filho has said it would be an honor.

Wanderlei said in the interview that he would knock Franklin out within two rounds and challenged Silva, his manager Ed Soares or Joinha to match the $50,000 Wanderlei is willing to wager. Wanderlei even called upon Anderson to be in Franklin’s corner come fight time.

“I go to knock him out,” said Wanderlei. “I have trained so much and Rich won’t last two rounds. I think it is good Anderson has been preparing him. I hope he is also on the corner. I want to dare him to bet $50,000. I put these amount and Anderson or his sponsors, Ed Soares or Joinha, bet another part. Who wins takes the money.”

UFC welterweight and Team Quest fighter Chris Wilson along with his family was robbed at gunpoint at their home in Brazil this past Wednesday.

According to an interview Wilson did with Slam! Sports he was on his way home from training when he was jumped as he entered his apartment complex.

Wilson who is training in Rio de Janeiro for his upcoming fight with Brock Larson at UFC 98 on May 23 said that a man held him at gunpoint and called for his friends. Wilson was taken up to his apartment by the five thugs who were all armed. As they arrived inside Wilson’s wife and two children were in the bathroom. The thieves started taking whatever they wanted including a television, laptop, jewelry and they even stole some of his children’s clothing including their Nike sneakers.

If that wasn’t bad enough they loaded all of the merchandise into Wilson’s car and forced him to drive them to their destination. Wilson admitted he was unsure if he was coming back but thankfully it all worked out and no one was harmed. He called police who launched an investigation into what happened. Wilson went on to say that he is still ready to fight and that he feels good but that it was a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Wilson has lived the majority of his life in Portland, Oregon but was born in Brazil as his parents were Baptist missionaries. Wilson’s wife is Brazilian as well.

Heavyweight grappling sensation of the legendary Gracie family Roger Gracie is close to signing a deal to compete in the Strikeforce organization.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed they are close to finalizing the terms of a multi-fight deal with Gracie In a recent report published by Sports Illustrated columnist Josh Gross.

Gracie who is 2-0 in his MMA career and comes from a long line of great competitors as the Gracie family is known world-wide, and  are credited with teaching their style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu all around the world. The 27 year old Gracie would compete in the heavyweight division which currently has Alistair Overeem as its champion with Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers leading the pack of contenders.

In 2005 Gracie won the ADCC World Championships at 98 Kilograms. He also won the open-weight division by becoming the first man to submit all 8 of his opponents.

According to Coker they will bring Gracie along slowly by placing him on their Strikeforce: Challenger Series events which will air on Showtime. Although he carries the Gracie name they will need to build him up to MMA fans and this is the perfect way to do so. Coker went on to say that he was hoping to get Gracie an opponent sometime in the fall.