There are a pair of Thursday night cards this week, including King of the Cage “Superstars” in Highland, Calif. Topping the bill are a pair of KOTC title matches, pitting Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez (14-2) against Dave Cryer (8-1) for the light heavyweight belt and Victor Valenzuela (9-3-2) versus Tony Hervey (10-5) for the lightweight championship. Topping the undercard is cult hero Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett (21-15-2), who takes on Eric Moon (5-1).

The other card is in Brazil, where Platinum Fight Brazil is putting on a show. The top name is Jorge “Jorjao” Rodrigues, who is 17-2 with 10 submissions. He’ll be taking on Gil Freitas (7-1), whose only loss is to Daniel Acacio. Patricio “Pitbull” Friere (9-0) squares off with Giovani Diniz (9-3) and Renan Barao (14-1) gets Jurandir Sardinha (6-1) in the top undercard matchups.

Only one card is scheduled for Friday, with Jeremy Horn’s Elite Fight Night holding its 10th card in Layton, Utah. Lightweight Travis “T-Train” Marx (14-1) tops the bill, taking a four-fight winning streak into his matchup with Jeffrey Willingham.

Topping Saturday night’s action, obviously, is Strikeforce “Carano vs. Cyborg” card from San Jose. Between Carano-Cyborg for the Strikeforce women’s 145-pound title (I hope both of them can make weight this time), Renato “Babalu” Sobral against Gegard Mousasi for the 205-pound title and Gilbert Melendez-Mitsuhiro Ishida for the 155-pound belt, it should make for a night of must-see action.

However, I wouldn’t underestimate the undercard fights featuring Jesse Taylor against Jay Hieron and the heavyweight tilt pitting Mike Kyle versus Fabricio Werdum. Taylor is out to prove his recent win in Dream wasn’t a fluke, while Hieron will be looking to vent his frustration from missing out on a title fight when Nick Diaz went AWOL.

With the signing of Fedor Emilianenko by Strikeforce, I’m sure Kyle and Werdum would both like a shot at “The Emperor”, so a good performance Saturday is vital towards taking a step in that direction.

Another good card Saturday is Call to Arms “Called Out Fights”, which goes down in Ontario, Calif. The card includes Thomas “Wild Man” Denny (26-18) against Brandon Wolff (7-4), Wander Braga (10-0) versus “Ultimate Fighter” alumnus Gabe Ruediger (14-5), ex-UFC fighter Roman Mitichyan (5-3) taking on Mike Dolce (4-6), Emanuel Newton (11-4-1) squaring off with Raphael Davis (6-1) and ex-World Wrestling Entertainment star Daniel Puder (7-0) looking to remain unbeaten against trialhorse Ruben Villareal (15-15-3).

The Midwestern-based Xtreme Fighting Organization is back in action Saturday night as well, hosting its 31st card, “Outdoor War 5” in Island Lake, Ill. The main event has former WEC and IFL standout Bart Palaszewski (30-13) looking to right the ship after two straight losses as he takes on Lucas Gwaltney.. The main supporting fight has MMA veteran Jeremy Horn (81-19-5) making his return versus Mike Marrello (11-2-1). Mike Corey (7-2) is on the undercard as well and John Hosman (13-5-1) – who just lost to Rani Yahya on the undercard of the WEC event Sunday – is listed as fighting, too, but I’m not sure if that’s the case or not.

Other U.S. cards Saturday include Rage in The Cage 133 in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. (topped by UFC veteran Edwin Dewees), King of the Cage “Thunderstruck” (featuring the 4-1 Caros Fodor, Julia Budd and former UFC fighter Tim Boetsch), SummerFist III in Irvine, Calif. and UMMAXX 8 in Akron, Ohio, which features a mix of amateur and pro MMA bouts.

Internationally, M-1 Challenge holds its latest round of team matchups in Amsterdam. This go-round, which actually covers two days, has Spain taking on England, France versus Japan and the World team facing France Saturday. Sunday’s action has Spain squaring off against Japan (both teams have totally new lineups for their second matches, so nobody will have to fight twice in two days), Turkey pairing up with the Russian Legion squad and U.S. battling the homestanding Benelux bunch.

Add it all up and that’s 30 fights over the span of two days. Even if you might not recognize most of the names that will be fighting, that’s a lot of MMA action to take in and is an MMA fan’s dream.

Just one other card is scheduled for Sunday, with Shooto holding its “Border 2: Advance” card in Osaka. Leading the card is a middleweight (167 pounds) bout between Masaki “Leo” Konishi (3-0-1) and Takuya Sato (4-2-2). Also on the card is a bantamweight (123 pounds) scrap pitting Kentaro Watanabe (2-1) against Tatsuro Kamei (4-3) and a welterweight (154 pounds) matchup of Hiroshi Shiba (7-5) and Tatsunori Tanaka (3-3).

After a week’s absence due to various circumstances, I’m back again to preview this weekend’s mixed martial arts action and there’s plenty of it to talk about, both on the foreign and domestic fronts.

There are a pair of cards Thursday, topped by the Palace Fighting Championships’ “Best of Both Worlds 3” card at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif. The main event is a 135-pound fight between Shawn Klarcyk (9-3) – who is coming off a loss to Jeff Bedard back in January - and Shawn Bias (13-8), a solid PFC veteran who’s lost three of his last four. Leading the undercard is Chad Mendes (3-0) against journeyman Steven Siler (11-6).

Just one card is scheduled for Friday, as Heat XC’s “Ruthless” card will take place at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta. Leading the card is 170-pounder Cory McDonald (9-2), who rides a four-fight winning streak into his bout with brazilian Thiago “Jambo” Goncalves (11-2).

McDonald holds a win over UFC alumnus Edwin Dewees and one of his losses came to Jonathan Goulet. Goncalves’ losses came to veterans Luigi Fiorivanti and Nick “The Goat” Thompson, both in the first three fights of his pro career, and he has a nine-fight winning streak of his own going into Friday night’s fight.

There are cards all over the United States Saturday, from Arizona to Wisconsin.

Rage in the Cage puts on its 130th card in Chandler, Ariz., headlined by a 170-pound title fight between Joe Cronin (12-10) and Eric Regan (12-14). Both are Rage in the Cage mainstays and have several common opponents, including “Ultimate Fighter” winner Efrain Escudero.

Also, there will be a Rage in the Cage heavyweight title fight between Adam Padilla (4-2) and Richard Hale (11-2), who has won seven straight fights. Fighters and fights to watch on the undercard are Jesse Barrett (5-0), Rich Moss (7-3) and the Jade Porter (4-1)-Chris Leyva (5-1) scrap.

Cage Combat Fighting Championships is holding a card in San Francisco headlined by a 170-pound fight between Jeremiah Metcalf (10-7) and Ky Hollenbeck (4-0). Also on the card are Buddy Roberts (6-1), Bobby Stack (6-1), Andy Miranda (4-1) and Emily Thompson (3-1) in separate fights.

On the international front, the Fite Nite promotion is having a card in Cariari, Costa Rica and Japanese promotion Heat will have a kickboxing/MMA card at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. The main event of the MMA portion of the show features American Henry “Sentoryu” Miller (5-7) against Cristiano Kaminishi (6-1). Also fighting on that card are K-1 veteran Ryo Takigawa and journeymen Junpei Hamada (6-11) and Yoshitaro Niimi (6-4-2) as well.

A little closer to home, King of the Cage Canada will hold its “Capital Excalibur” card at the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The main event is a KOTC Canadian Light Heavyweight Title fight pitting Bill “Hush” Mesi (3-0) against Bill “The Butcher” Mahood (16-7-1), whose resume includes fights with Bobby Southworth, Patrick Cote (twice), Forrest Griffin and Jason McDonald (twice).

The undercard features several notable names, including Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons (23-14) – who has lost five of his last seven – against Shannon Ritch (43-66) and the infamous Mark “The Smashing Machine” Kerr (15-10) versus Nick Penner (8-1).

Long Beach Fight Night has its fifth card Sunday at the Hall of Champions Gym in Long Beach. The best matchup on paper pits Sergio Salcido (4-1) versus Russ Miura (4-1) at 145 pounds, with Evan Delong (6-3) and Vince Ortiz (6-2) anchoring the undercard. Ortiz is notable because he made his pro MMA debut over in Japan, losing to Yusuke Endo on a Shooto card in January 2008.

Speaking of Shooto, the Japanese promotion puts on its “Revolutionary Exchanges 1: Undefeated” card Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The main event is a Shooto 132-pound title fight pitting champion Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2) – considered by many to be one of the best bantamweight fighters on the planet – against Brazilian standout Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas (7-1).

The undercard has several top-notch fights and fighters, led by Shinichi “BJ” Kojima (10-3-5) squaring off with Brazilian Jucie Formiga (2-0) in what should be a great 123-pound fight. More 123-pound fights have Takeshi Sato (8-6-1) and Atsushi Takeuchi (6-4-2) going at it and the pairing of Yasuhiro Akagi (6-4) and Masaaki Sugawara (7-3-1) are set to duke it out as well.

Rounding out the weekend is Monday’s DREAM 10 card from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The top bouts are the welterweight tournament semifinals pitting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (35-8-2) against Lithuanian Marius Zaromskis (9-2) and Brazilian Andre Galvao (3-0) against American Jason High (7-1).

Non-tournament bouts include Shinya Aoki (20-4) taking on the returning Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (20-2) in a lightweight tilt, former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho (16-1) versus Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1) and Katsunori Kikuno (11-1-1) faces Andre “Dida” Amade (6-3-1) in what should be the best, if not the deepest, card of the weekend.

Dan “The Beast” Severn is a member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Hall of Fame and as UFC 100 approaches this weekend, he can offer a unique perspective on how the UFC has changed over the years.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently had the opportunity to catch up with “The Beast” in the days leading up the landmark UFC event this Saturday evening to gather the legend’s thoughts on MMA past and present.

“I remember the first time I ever saw the UFC,” said the 55-year-old Severn, who is still actively competing in MMA. “I thought, ‘Wow, you can do this in the U.S.?’. I knew it had what it took to captivate the audience, but I wasn’t sure whether it would be able to survive politically. I didn’t know whether it would make it to UFC 100 because of all of the politics and the lack of rules, but I knew entertainment-wise it was right on the mark.

“I’m a big believer that athletes are intelligent enough that if you give them a certain set of rules, they’re going to use them to their advantage. Putting rules in place helped make the sport better and made the competitors more well-rounded.”

Along with more well-rounded athletes and rules changes, Severn said the explosion of the Internet has helped the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general, to become more and more popular.

“The sport is much more accepted and in the mainstream now,” said Severn. “Before, you had to be internet savvy and there wasn’t as much marketing. The original owners of the UFC promoted the violent aspect of the sport, like pro wrestling, as I think that came back to haunt them. A lot of education had to take place and there are still a lot of politicians in positions of power who don’t know a lot about the sport of MMA.”

Even though Severn already is a member of the UFC’s Hall of Fame, he said the UFC should do more to recognize the people that put the UFC on the map.

“It’s hard to have a Hall of Fame and not have politics, but there are some things the UFC can do,” said Severn. “I’m not saying he should be in the Hall of Fame, but the UFC should honor somebody like Keith Hackney. It wouldn’t have to be a big deal. They could just bring him out, show some of his highlights while he was walking to the cage, and let people see what he did. Marco Ruas is another guy.

“The UFC should just do different little things to show appreciation to those who laid the foundation for today’s guys. It would be good if they’d do that for more of those guys who fought in the earlier events.”

Severn first fought in the UFC at UFC 4 back in 1994, when he choked out Anthony Macias and Marcus Bossett before losing to Royce Gracie in his third fight of the evening. He later won a tournament title at UFC 5 in April 1995 and was the champion of the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tournament as well.

He fought 10 times in the Octagon with a record of 6-4, owning wins over Ken Shamrock, Oleg Taktarov and Tank Abbott along the way. His final appearance for the UFC came at UFC 27 in September 2000, when he lost to Pedro Rizzo via strikes.
Severn was inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame at UFC 52 in April 2005, but he’s stayed busy since then, fighting 26 times in the last four-plus years. His career record stands at 88-16-4 and even though he’s more than 50 years old, he’s won 11 of his last 13 fights. Of those 88 wins, an impressive 53 have come by submission.

Severn’s last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Steve Eakins at a Gladiator Challenge event in May and he’s scheduled to be back in action July 25 at a King of the Cage event in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. However, he is realistic about his place in the current MMA world.

“The reality is that I’m not the same wardog that I was,” said Severn. “I do my research when I’m offered an opponent and I prepare the best I can. Am I going against the cream of the crop? No, but is there anybody who faces the opposition I do at my age? No, there’s not.”

Among the names on Severn’s list of people he’d like to fight before he retires is Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie and Shamrock.

“I know I’m not going to fight much longer, but there are still some fights that I’d like to make happen,“ said Severn. “I want to have no regrets when I get done fighting. I went to Afghanistan with Mark last December and we talked a lot on that trip. He’d like to do the fight, but he’s under contract to the UFC, so that’s not possible right now. I’d also like to face (Gracie) and (Shamrock). I feel like there’s some unfinished business with them as well.”

The idea of Severn facing Shamrock or Gracie might make some purist fans cringe, but the concept of an MMA Masters division for competitors over 40 is something that has been talked about before. Severn said he foresees a Masters division becoming a reality sooner rather than later.

“I do think there’s going to be a Masters division,” said Severn. “There’s a lot of guys retiring that still have that itch to compete and seeing them against each other is better than seeing a 40-something guy against a 20-year-old guy.”

Along with fighting, Severn – a former World Wrestling Entertainment star who still does pro wrestling occasionally – also runs the Michigan Sports Camp in Coldwater, Mich. The gym is unique in that it offers classes for not just mixed martial arts, but amateur and pro wrestling, muay thai, ju-jitsu and pro boxing as well.

“People can come and train whatever we have teachers for,” Severn said. “There are five gyms in this area, but they don’t affect us because they all cater to a different clientele than we do.

“I’m on the mats five or six days a week doing different things. When I started the gym in 1995, I had about 30 guys who came in and wanted to do no holds barred fighting. They were all gone by the end of the second month because they couldn’t keep up with me. People will ask me if a certain person is training with me and I tell them that there’s a difference between taking a class from me and training with me. If I train you, I’m going to break you mentally and physically so I know what you can do.”

The Michigan Sports Camp currently has between 25 and 35 amateur and pro MMA fighters training under Severn currently. One notable alumnus of the camp is former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, who had some amateur and early pro fights under Severn’s banner.

“I run classes at the camp, but I also participate in the classes, too,” said Severn. “I don’t train very much to get ready for a fight because I’m always on the mat in one way or another. If people knew how little I trained for as many fights as I’ve had, they’d be shocked.

“I’ve been fighting since 1994 and I’ve had two training camps, one for 32 days and one for 35 days. Other than that, I just teach. Anybody else that can do that, have as much success as I’ve had and be chemical-free, can’t be found.”

For more information on Severn, check out his Web site at www.dansevern.com.

The United States is celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend, meaning there isn’t much in the way of mixed martial arts domestically, but there are some cards and fights worth talking about.

The latest installment of the M-1 Challenge Series will take place Saturday at the Seoul Arena in South Korea. The series pits five-man teams against each other in a format similar to the now-defunct International Fight League with fights coming at 155 pounds, 170, 185, 205 and heavyweight.

The team matchups set for this weekend are Team U.S. West against Russia Imperial, South Korea versus Brazil and Finland takes on Bulgaria, so the fans in Seoul will get to see fighters from all over the world.

Team Brazil appears to be loaded, with Affliction vet Fabio Nascimento (9-4), Pride and Pancrase alum Daniel Acacio (17-8), Givanildo “The Arm Collector” Santana (12-1), Hacran Dias (11-0-1) and Eduardo Pamplona (11-2). Santana is notable not only for his awesome nickname, but for the fact that 11 of his 12 wins have come by armbar as well. Also, Pamplona did beat Acacio at an event in Brazil back in December 2008.

Other fighters to watch on the card include the 11-0 Dave Jansen and 6-0 Shane Del Rosario from Team USA West, Jae Young Kim (12-7) of South Korea, Yanko Yanev (8-1) from Bulgaria and the Finnish trio of Janne Tulirinta (11-3), Mikko Suvanto (7-3-1) and Marcus Vanttinen (9-2).

One card in the U.S. Saturday is Absolute Cage Combat’s “New Revolution” in Lakeview, Ohio. There are only three pro MMA fights on the card, featuring Rodney Carter (2-1), Carson Gainey (0-2) and Brandon Walker (0-1), so the card is pretty low-key.

There are three international cards scheduled for Sunday. The British promotion Strike and Submit is holding a card in Dunston, England, headlined by a lightweight title fight pitting “Ultimate Fighter 9” alumnus Martin Stapleton against Andrew Fisher.

Also, the Japanese promotion ZST – famous for its tag-team MMA matches (yes, they really do have tag-team MMA) and lack of judges (all fights that go the distance are draws) – puts on a pair of cards Sunday in Tokyo. Both cards are part of ZST’s SWAT series, which serves as a feeder system similar to the Strikeforce Challengers series here in the U.S.

Pictured: 11-0 Dave Jansen

After a weekend that featured the finale of the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, a Strikeforce Challengers Series card and the final card of the first season of the Bellator Fighting Championships, the mixed martial arts scene is a little bit quieter in terms of television exposure this weekend.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of MMA action. There are a lot of cards going on all over the world with many fights worthy of your attention, which is why I’m here to give you a peek at what’s going on in the MMA world this weekend.

The top two cards Saturday are FFI’s “Ultimate Chaos” card at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss., and the UCFC has “Rumble on the Rivers” at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

The main event in Biloxi is a matchup of the big men, as former World Wrestling Entertainment star Bobby Lashley (3-0) receives the stiffest test of his fledgling MMA career against Pride veteran Bob “The Beast” Sapp.

The undercard is loaded with recognizable names, with Gilbert Yvel facing off with Pedro Rizzo, Din Thomas taking on Javier Vazquez and Chris Horodecki and William Sriyapai duking it out. Also fighting on the undercard are Affliction VP Tom Atencio (no, that’s not a misprint), International Fight League veteran Brett Cooper and UFC alum Danny Abbadi as well.

“Rumble on the Rivers” is headlined by a battle of tested veterans, as former UFC fighter Rich Clementi and Kyle Jensen go at it in a welterweight scrap. Leading the undercard is a featherweight scrap between WEC veteran and Dream Tournament participant Micah Miller and J.C. Pennington.

Also on the card are former NFL standout and NCAA wrestling champion Carlton Haselrig, ex-Penn State wrestler Phil Davis and the 10-1 Paul Bradley.

Other promotions putting on cards around the country Saturday night include World Championship Fighting in Wilmington, Mass., the Elite Fighting Challenge in Norfolk, Va. (featuring Pat Curran, who sports a 6-1 record), Total Fight Challenge in Hammond, Ind., Shark Fights in Amarillo, Texas (with UFC vet Nissen Osterneck on the undercard) and 5150 Combat League (featuring UFC and Pride star Marcus Aurelio in the main event and TUF alumnus Jesse Forbes on the undercard),

Also on Saturday night, Rage in the Cage holds its 129th card in Globe, Ariz. Topping the bill is a fight between Drew “The Master” Fickett, who has lost six of his last seven against journeyman Shannon Ritch, who sports a record of 43-66.

On the international scene, Greatest Common Multiple holds the 11th installment of its Cage Force series Saturday at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. The main event pits UFC veteran Kuniyoshi Hironaka against Dream alumnus Katsuhiko Nagata.

Also featured on the card are Yuta Nezu (7-2-1) and another former UFC fighter in Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura (15-4-2).

It‘s not often you get MMA action on Sunday as well, but you can think Japanese promotion Deep for giving us something to look forward to on the final day of the weekend as well. Deep is holding a Toyama Impact card in Toyama, Japan and like the upcoming Strikeforce card, this bill is topped by a female title fight.

Miku “Supernova” Matsumoto (20-4), considered to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in female MMA, will defend her Deep lightweight title against American Lisa Ward (12-4). Ward already owns a victory over Matsumoto, beating her by armlock on a Smackgirl card back in 2006. That was Matsumoto’s last loss and she’ll be looking to avenge that defeat this weekend.

Also on the card is Yoshihiro “Barbaro44” Tomioka (12-7-4) against Takafumi Ito (34-28-10) in a matchup of grizzled Japanese MMA vets.

Other notables on the card include journeymen Kenji Arai (13-13-3) in a 145-pound fight and Yuichi Ikari (10-6-3) in separate action at 155 pounds.

Deep isn’t done, though, as it also holds its 42nd Impact card June 30 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The main event is a middleweight title fight pitting Yuichi Nakanishi (9-8-3) against Riki Fukuda (14-4).

Also fighting on the undercard are Ryuta Sakurai (18-15-4) taking on Pride, Deep and Pancrase alumnus Hiromitsu Kanehara (17-22-1), Kazayuki Miyata (6-7) taking on Shooto, Deep and Dream fighter Takeshi Yamazaki (14-9-2) and Kazuhisa Tazawa (4-0-1) versus Korean Jae Young Kim (12-7). Tazawa is worthy of mention if for no other reason than his last win came against Tim “Big Perm” Persey (who has one of the greatest nicknames in MMA) and it was a submission with a scarf hold. No, I’m not making that up.