All three bouts were announced by the UFC.

Lopez (11-2) is a student of Wanderlei Silva’s who lost his UFC debut to Justin Edwards in 2011. Lopez and Sadollah (5-3) were scheduled to first meet at UFC 143 but both were injured and the fight was cancelled.

McKenzie (12-2) has gone 1-2 in his three UFC fights since appearing on the Ultimate Fighter 12, while Riley (30-13-1) is 3-3 in his last six UFC fights and 3-5 all-time inside the Octagon.

Tavares (7-1) suffered the first loss of his career at UFC 132 to Aaron Simpson. His opponent, Yang (10-2), sports a 1-2 career record with the UFC.

UFC on Fuel 3 takes place from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The main card airs on FUEL TV, while the prelims will stream on Facebook. The main event is scheduled to see Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung battle to move one step closer to a shot at the featherweight title.

PHOTO CREDIT – Amir Sadollah

While Gustafsson certainly respects Nogueira based on his past accomplishments, he also knows the Brazilian veteran has flaws he can exploit. In a recent conversation with TATAME “The Mauler” offered some slight elaboration on his mindset, making it clear his goal is to wow his fellow Swedes with a strike-based stoppage.

“I hope he goes for it otherwise I’ll knock him out,” Gustafsson laughed when asked about Nogueira’s statements regarding a knockout of his own. “I’m ready to box! I have a gameplan for him.”

“He is very tough guy. He’s a legend in the sport,” Gustafsson continued on the topic of “Minotoro”, though was not impressed by his outing against Tito Ortiz in December, saying, “It wasn’t a good fight, Tito gave him the fight.”

UFC on Fuel 2 takes place on April 21 in Stockholm. Other bouts include Diego Nunes vs. Dennis Siver and Brian Stann vs. Alessio Sakara.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Gracie stopped Sapp with strikes in their match-up at the event to pick up his third straight win since falling to Joey Beltran at UFC 109. The performance improved his record to 6-1 with the entire lot coming by way of submission. Comparably the loss was Sapp’s fourth in a row and seventh in his last eight outings.

Read below for a full list of ONE FC 2 results:

Zuli Silawanto def. Agus Nanang via TKO Round 1 (Strikes)
Pete Davis def. Ngabdi Mulyadi via Submission Round 3 (Triangle Choke)
Irshaad Sayed def. Jessie Rafols via Knockout Round 1 (Strikes)
Geje Eustaquio def. Alex Silva via Unanimous Decision
Victorio Senduk def. Raymond Tiew via TKO Round 1 (Injury)
Rolles Gracie def. Bob Sapp via Submission Round 1 (Strikes)
Gustavo Falciroli def. Soo Chul Kim via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)
Rustam Khabilov def. Rodrigo Ribeiro via Unanimous Decision
Bae Young Kwon def. Honorio Banario via Submission Round 1
Felipe Enomoto def. Ole Laursen via Submission Round 2 (Rear-Naked Choke)

The match-up has been confirmed by the UFC.

Thompson, who is 56-0 as a kickboxer and 6-0 in MMA, made his UFC debut last weekend at UFC 143 where he started the card off strong by flattening Dan Stittgen with a headkick in the opening round of their bout. Four of the long-time karate practitioner’s victories in the cage have involved some form of finish.

Meanwhile, Brown dropped Chris Cope in equally fine fashion, also at UFC 143, and likely would have won Knockout of the Night honors had he been on a different card. He holds an overall record of 13-11 with ten stoppages.

UFC 143 is headlined by Jon Jones putting his light heavyweight title on the line against Rashad Evans and will also feature fights like Miguel Torres vs. Michael McDonald, Mac Danzig vs. Efrain Escudero, and Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

In the main event, Frankie Edgar will defend his UFC lightweight title against #1 contender and former WEC champion Ben Henderson. Edgar is coming off a thrilling victory over Gray Maynard, while “Smooth” earned his title shot by defeating Jim Miller.

“I will not let Ben Henderson take my belt,” said Edgar in an extended preview for the show.

Meanwhile, the co-main event boasts former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson returning to Japan where he first rose to fame in MMA to rumble with Ryan Bader.

“Beating ‘Rampage’ would solidify my career,”explained Bader int he same preview. “It would put me up there with the upper-echelon fighters.”

Other bouts slated to take place include Jake Shields-Yoshihiro Akiyama, Mark Hunt-Cheick Kongo, and Hatsu Hioki-Bart Palaszewski.

Check out the full preview below:

Gracie suffered the first loss of his MMA career in his most recent bout with former Strikeforce champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal earning a knockout victory over him this past September. Along with a 4-1 mark in MMA, Gracie is also 65-7 while competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling events during his career.

“Roger Gracie signs with UFC, might train with Anderson Silva before his first bout,” GRACIEMAG posted on its Twitter site late Friday night.

Gracie had recently been linked to a move down in divisions though nothing was mentioned in terms of whether or not his change to the UFC will affect those plans.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

UFC

Now that St. Pierre has had some time to reflect on things he has re-evaluated how interested he actually is in fighting Diaz, at least when it comes to an expected defense of his title in November.

“I want to fight the best man, and the best man is Condit,” said the 22-2 champion in an interview on Bruce Buffer‘s Sherdog show , adding emotion had clouded his judgment beforehand. Still, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind settling the score with Diaz at some point down the road.

“As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he’s better than me (and) I think I’m better than him,” explained St. Pierre before turning talk to the controversial Californian’s future. “But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he’s at right now. He’s at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he’s left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him.”

Diaz has not commented since saying he was retiring from MMA after his disgust with the judges’ decision in his fight with Condit. The 28-year old was the more aggressive, less technical of the two this past Saturday night and paid for it with the defeat.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

No specifics in terms of location/date for the bout were mentioned.

Mir has picked up three straight wins since losing to Shane Carwin a little less than two years ago with the trio all coming in convincing fashion. The 16-5 Las Vegas native was last seen snapping Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm in their co-headlining clash at UFC 140 in December.

While Velasquez does not have the momentum of Mir’s winning streak, having lost the UFC belt to champ Junior dos Santos in November, he emerged with his hand raised in nine straight prior to the stumble including victories over Nogueira, Cheick Kongo, and Brock Lesnar.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Bellator

Along with the title match, the semifinals of the season six middleweight tournament will take place, along with the return of Lyman Good to action against LeVon Maynard.

Dantas rolled through the most recent bantamweight tourney, defeating Wilson Reis, Ed West, and Alexis Vila to secure a shot at Makovsky, who is on an eight-fight winning streak of his own.

“Zach and Eduardo are two of the greatest bantamweights in MMA today, so this should be a really spectacular fight,” said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney in a recent press release. “We always have a packed house whenever we head out to Atlantic City, and I expect nothing less on April 13.”

“I’m here at Bellator to win the bantamweight champion. I plan to not only win the title, but to keep it for many years to come,” added Dantas.

PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

Jackson’s admission came in a recent interview with Fighters Only where he said, “If I had won that Jon Jones fight and if the Japan show wasn’t next, then there would have been a very good chance I would have retired already. It would have been a great time to bow out,” adding he would have ducked out after putting the gold up for grabs in Japan at UFC 144. Jackson has professed his love for the Land of the Rising Sun numerous times before, lobbying hard to fight on the show and entertain some of his most loyal fans at the historic show.

Without the title in tow, the former UFC/PRIDE champ will use the next eighteen months of his life to attempt to earn one final crack at the strap.

“I still want to retire as champion. I want to hold the belt once more,” Jackson revealed.

The next step in that process will come in two weeks when he rumbles with Ryan Bader at the very event that could have marked his last had things played out differently (UFC 144). Jackson had won back-to-back bouts entering the title-fight with Jones and holds an overall record of 32-9 including past victories over Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, and Dan Henderson.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Poirier and “The Korean Zombie” feuded over Twitter, provoking each other and ultimately setting up the bout. Given the main event billing and recent success of each man  this match may very well decide the next contender at featherweight.

Poirier (12-1) is coming off two straight submission victories including a bonus-winning performance a week ago at UFC 143, while Jung (12-3) has been undefeated since moving over from the WEC, submitting Leonard Garcia and knocking out previous contender Mark Hominick in less than ten seconds this past December.

Other fights scheduled for UFC on Fuel 3 (originally labeled as UFC on FX 3) include Tom Lawlor vs. Jason McDonald and Donald Cerrone vs. Yves Edwards.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Fertitta confirmed the UFC’s plans via Twitter.

“The California Kid” will be looking to avoid a case of déjà vu when he clashes with Cruz after losing a hard-fought, five-round decision in July allowing rival Cruz to retain his title and even the score at 1-1 a piece. Faber beat Cruz as a featherweight in WEC. The 26-5 Faber submitted Brian Bowles in his only fight since the scrap, his third victory in four outings.

Meanwhile, Cruz will be looking to close the chapter of his life dedicated to Faber by edging him out in their trilogy. The 26-year old champ holds an overall record of 19-1 and hasn’t been beaten in five years.

TUF 15 is set to debut on FX come March 9 and will feature Faber/Cruz serving as the heads of two teams comprised of lightweights/welterweights.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The main card also has five bout, and features several notable fighters. Bob Sapp, Rolles Gracie, Gustavo Falciroli, Rustam Khabilov, and Ole Laursen are all standouts on this card. With some intriguing fights that could be pivotal to the future of several of ONE FC’s divisions, all eyes will be on Asia’s biggest MMA promotion as they find their footing. The main card will be available on UStream for $9.99 USD. Considering how expensive most MMA PPV cards are these days, that’s more than reasonable for a card of this caliber. So grab a bowl of cereal, put some Saturday morning cartoons on your TV, and check out the ONE FC 2: Battle of Heroes internet PPV.

And now a look at the main card…

Rolles Gracie (5-1) vs Bob Sapp (11-9)

Fighting out of the Renzo Gracie Academy, Brazil’s Gracie, a one-time UFC and IFL fighter, looks to live up to the family name and show his submission chops against the mammoth Sapp. The 33-year-old submission specialist has five wins in his MMA career, all by way of Arm-Triangle Choke in the first round. Rolles looks for his third consecutive win since a 2010 loss to Joey Beltran stopped his UFC career before it ever really got started.

The lone American on the card, Sapp, fights out of Team Beast. A popular fighter in Japan, Sapp has fought some of the best in MMA and K-1, although those fights, for the most part, came earlier in his career. Sapp was winless in kickboxing from 2005 until this month, where he won a very controversial TKO over Tofan Pirani. Sapp has also managed only one victory in his last seven outings. Looking for his first MMA victory in two years, Sapp brings a near 100-pound weight advantage to this cage.

Sapp needs to use his size and sub-par, yet powerful striking, to punish Gracie. On the other hand, Gracie needs to keep Sapp at bay on the feet, and bring him into his realm, where the submission victory shouldn’t be hard to find. The best way to describe this fight that it is a simple battle of size versus skill.

Soo Chul Kim (4-2) vs Gustavo Falciroli (11-3-2)

Fans of ONE FC may recall the South Korean Kim. The Team Force prospect came into the first event as a heavily watched Korean MMA fan favorite, however, whether it be pressure, or just facing a better fighter in Leandro Issa, Kim came up short. The 20 year old looks to rebound from his second career loss in this bout, and will likely use a variety of striking to try to keep the fight where he wants it, and defeat the second high-level grappler that he has faced in as many fights.

Godoi Jiu-Jitsu Club’s Falciroli is Australia’s lone fighter on the card. The Shooto Australia veteran comes into this match with three victories in his last four fights, one by submission, one by knockout, and one by decision. Falciroli has the tools required to win any battle, no matter where it goes. The second degree BJJ black belt is also an accomplished striker, and the word is that with another victory or two, he could very well be UFC bound as they expand their operations.

A considerably tougher fight for than Kim is used to, the South Korean needs to be smart in this bout, and perhaps work a defensive game. Falciroli is a dangerous fighter and can end it on the feet or on the ground at any given time, and although I never like to count any fighter out before match-up happens, it’s no secret that Falciroli is heavily favoured in this time out. Look for these two to put on a fast pace, and don’t be surprised if this bantamweight tilt encompasses all the aspects of the MMA game.

Rodrigo Ribeiro (9-7) vs Rustam Khabilov (12-1)

Fighting out of Evolve MMA, Brazillian grappler Riberio steps into the ONE FC cage in only his second bout outside of Brazil. The third degree BJJ black belt has a mixed record in his career thus far, and looks for his second consecutive victory in this bout. With most of his wins coming by way of submission, it’s fairly clear where Ribeiro wants this fight to go.

Across the cage from him is Jackson’s MMA fighter Khabilov. The Russian Sambo player is one of Russia’s highest touted prospects with his 12-1 record. His first non-European fight, Khabilov has almost exclusively competed within the M-1 ring. His only loss was a controversial split decision loss to Russian Khaskhanov back in February of 2011. With most of his wins coming by way of submission or decision, it could be a gamble for him to take the action to the ground, but with his Sambo experience, it may also be his best weapon.

This bout pits two dominant martial arts against each other. For the Brazillian, Ribeiro, BJJ is his bread and butter, and he’ll look to use his skills to hand Khabilov his second loss. For the Russian, Khabilov, Sambo is held in the same regard as BJJ is to the Brazillian, and he too, will look to use his dominate skills to find success outside of the European MMA scene.

Bae Young Kwon (6-2) vs Honorio Banario (6-0)

The #1 ranked South Korean fighterKwon enters the cage on the strength of a two-fight win streak. A Team Posse fighter, the “Serial Killer” loves to go for the knockout, but is definitely not afraid to fight wherever the action goes. The Shooto veteran faces likely his toughest challenge yet in Banario, but he’s not the #1 ranked Korean featherweight for nothing, and he plans to confidently show the world why he’s as highly regarded as he is.

Team Lakay’s Banario is undefeated; the Filipino striker mixes his powerful standup skills and his excellent wrestling and submissions to win his fights, with all of his victories coming within the distance. “The Rock” is the current URCC lightweight champ, but is dropping down to featherweight for this bout. He is well known for his ability to push the pace without gassing, and looks to make a statement in his ONE FC debut.

This bout pits the best Korean featherweight against one of the best Filipino lightweights around, and promises to be an exciting fight, which should add some clarity to the top of the ONE FC featherweight division. Most certainly, the winner of this match-up will be able to stake his claim as perhaps the best featherweight on the ONE FC roster.

Felipe Enomoto (5-3 1 NC) vs Ole Laursen (5-2)

Japanese standout Enomoto fights out of Enomoto Dojo. Despite losing in his last two outings, Enomoto is always a very dangerous fighter. With an abundance of BJJ experience, as well as being trained in muay Thai and boxing, Enomoto is more than capable of winning. Having experience in ProFC and Pancrase, Enomoto is used to shows at this level, and should have no problem getting into his comfort zone this time out.

Fighting out of Legacy Gym, the Filipino Laursen returns to MMA after more than a year away due to injuries. After suffering two losses to open his career, to Genki Sudo and Caol Uno, Laursen put together a five-fight winning streak, with all but one of those victories going within the distance. The muay Thai champion will look to use his vast array of strikes to punish Enomoto and secure his sixth consecutive win.

While both men have experience against tough opponents, their toughest fights could come against each other. While Enomoto doesn’t excel in any specific area, his well-rounded fighting style should allow him to be more than able to compete with Laursen. For “Iron Fist”, ring rust may be an issue, but he has had long layoffs before. His striking is his key to victory, but don’t be shocked if he looks for a submission win along the way.

All in all, for those who get up early enough, this card will be excellent. I know that I, for one, will be up at the crack of dawn, proudly wearing my ONE FC shirt, and you should be too. Don’t have a ONE FC shirt? Get a shirt and write ONE FC on it and wear it.

Enjoy the fights!

McCray (7-3) was defeated by Court McGee in 2010 in the finals of TUF 11 and dropped two more bouts inside the Octagon thereafter, forcing his release.

Since his stint in the UFC, McCray has won two fights on the regional circuit. He has been working out in New Jersey at Ricardo Almeida‘s gym with UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

News of the signing was first reported by MMAWeekly. Bellator has yet to announce a date/event for McCray’s initial appearance under the promotion’s banner.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

While talking with fans on his Twitter account, Fertitta said that the UFC was looking at JDS-Overeem for UFC 146 on May 26 from Las Vegas, Nevada. The Memorial Day Weekend tag would make sense considering the show’s annual standing as one of the organization’s biggest.

Dos Santos (14-1) won the heavyweight title by defeating Cain Velasquez late in 2011, scoring a first round knockout of the former undefeated champion. He has been on the sidelines since recovering from knee surgery.

Overeem (36-11) made an impact in his UFC debut, knocking out ex-champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 to secure the #1 position in the division. “The Reem” is a former Strikeforce heavyweight champ, along with holding titles in several other organizations, and has finished 34 of the 36 opponents he’s beaten.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

ONE FC 2: Battle of Heroes takes place this Saturday, February 11th, live from Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia. If you’re not familiar with ONE FC, the fast-growing Singapore based promotion burst onto the Asian MMA scene in 2011 with their inaugural card (Champion vs. Champion), which featured notable fighters such as Phil Baroni, Eduard Folayang, Eric Kelly, and Gregor Gracie. ONE FC uses a combination of unified rules, as well as PRIDE Rules, in their fights. With soccer kicks, head stomps and elbows all permitted in the fights, fans of PRIDE, fans of violence, and fans of all types MMA in general, are in for a treat.

With this card less than 24 hours away, here is a look at the bouts, what to expect, and why you should wake up early Saturday morning to tune in.

The preliminary card gets started live on Saturday morning, beginning at 7:30am EST. Featuring five bouts with some Asian MMA veterans, as well as exciting prospects, the undercard promises to deliver some exciting, interesting, and excellent bouts. The preliminary card is available for viewing live at the ONE FC Facebook page.

Check back in later tonight when I break down the main card as well.

Zuli Silawanto (5-5) vs Agus Nanang (0-0)

Tigershark Fighting Academy product, Indonesian Silawanto comes into this fight after a nearly eight-year break from fighting. Having made his professional debut nearly a decade ago, Silawanto fought all ten of his fights in the now-defunct TPI Fighting Championship with mixed results. After trading wins and losses in all of his fights, he looks to make a triumphant return to the sport and improve his .500 record.

Fellow Indonesian Nanang makes his professional debut, fighting out of the Bandung Fighting Club. Nanang has twelve previous MMA bouts on the amateur fight scene. Nanang is a regarded as a wrestler and will likely be looking to take things to the ground, however, if the fight stays standing, he should be more than able to hold is own.

This fight flirts with the unknown. How will Silawanto look after an eight-year layoff? What can we expect from Nanang? There is very little relevant tape to study on either fighter, so how this fight will play out is a mystery, which adds an interesting element to this fight.

Ngabdi Mulyadi (5-2) vs Peter Davis (3-1)

Indonesian based Mulyadi fights out of the Lindu Aji camp. A decorated wrestler, Mulyadi went 5-0, with four finishes, to start off his career, before suffering back-to-back losses. Much like Silawanto, Mulyadi returns to MMA after nearly an eight-year layoff. Mulyadi, however, remained active during much of his time away from the sport, competing in wrestling competitions throughout Asia.

Davis represents the Muayfit team out of Malaysia and enters the fight looking for his third straight win. The unorthodox striker stepped away from professional fighting for some time to focus on other commitments, such as modelling and acting, but made a triumphant return in December 2011, making short work of Nursultan Arsen Uule. The former UKMMAC welterweight champ brings an interesting striking attack to the fight.

A classic striker vs. grappler match in the purest sense of the phrase, it will be interesting to see how a long time away from the sport affects Mulyadi, as well as how Davis will deal with his primarily wrestling based attack. There is much hype around Davis, and this fight could be pivotal in determining the future of his MMA career.

Irshaad Sayed (2-1) vs Jessie Rafols (6-2)

Sayed, a South African, makes his major promotion debut with less than two years under his belt as a professional fighter. Fighting out of Hong Kong based IMPAKT MMA, Sayed makes his promotional debut coming off the strength of a split decision victory over Jumayi Ayideng at RUFF 2 in December 2011. Widely regarded as an outstanding muay Thai practitioner, Sayed looks to make some noise in the bantamweight division with a victory over Rafols.

Seeking his seventh win, Filipino Rafols enters the cage fighting out of D’Elements Gym. “The Finisher” has a 100% finishing rate in his six career victories, with five coming by submission. A professional fighter for just over four years, Rafols is known for his frantic pace and relentless aggression, as well as his ability to put the pressure on his opponents.

One of the more interesting fights on the preliminary card, this bout promises to be an exciting, and potentially violent part of the evening. If I had to suggest a fight to keep yours eyes peeled to, this would be it.

Alex Silva (1-0) vs Geje Eustaquio (2-1)

Brazillian Silva is the first fighter of the night based out of the Evolve MMA camp. A BJJ world champion, Silva recently made his MMA debut by defeating Suchat Lukamkuha by submission in just over two minutes. Silva has the benefit of training with grappling ace Shinya Aoki, and will be looking to make a definitive statement on behalf of Evolve.

The Filipino Eustaquio is The Team Lakay fighter, and looks to represent his camp, widely regarded as one of the best in Asia, against a fellow top team. Nearing the one-year anniversary of his professional debut, Eustaquio is coming off a split decision loss to David Cho at PXC 28 in a contentious affair.

Eustaquio’s Wushu-based attacks could prove an interesting factor in this flyweight tilt, as he will most certainly have to keep this fight standing if he wants to secure the victory. One should expect Silva to take the action to the ground as soon as he can, and look for a quick submission. One way or another, one team will most certainly have bragging rights as soon as the closing bell sounds.

Victorio Senduk (0-0) vs Raymond Tiew (0-0)

Indonesian based Senduk fights out of Versus Martial Arts Team and makes his professional debut with ONE FC. An experienced striker, Senduk has tried his hand at boxing, kickboxing, and karate. What Senduk brings to the table in this fight is unknown, as his most prominent professional competition was at the South East Asian Games, where he took home the silver medal in San Shou.

His opponent, Tiew is the second fighter on the card to come out of Team Muayfit in Malaysia. Compiling a 5-1 record on the Malaysian MMA scene, Tiew has competed in kickboxing as well, and is regarded as the better MMA striker. A Wushu champion in his own regard, his well-rounded striking game could be the key to victory against Senduk.

With both men having so much experience in striking-based combat sports, one can imagine this action will stay on the feet. Fans expect this to be a striking clinic, as does ONE FC, as it is the feature fight on the preliminary card. Both men need a definitive victory to cement their position in the Asian MMA scene.

The preliminary card promises to be an exciting, action-packed two hours of fights. Can’t get up for 7:30am? In my next piece, we’ll take a look at the main card which features plenty of notable fighters, and exciting, pivotal fights.

Henderson, who solidified his standing as a top challenger with an exciting win over Mauricio Rua in November, recently opened up on his plan for 2012 in a conversation with ESPN where he explained it’s never been his intention to wait for Jones-Evans to settle their score.

“That was never what I said or anything,” said the former Strikeforce/DREAM champion. “I don’t know who said that, but it wasn’t me. My thoughts were I was waiting to see what happened with Rashad and Phil Davis. That was the only thing I was going to wait for.”

“Obviously you can’t guarantee that nobody gets hurt,” he added, alluding to the possibility of stepping in as a replacement for Jones or Evans, continuing, “I don’t know what the plan is, but I’d fight whoever it is they think would be a good match-up. The problem is there’s really nobody right now who fits the bill for a title contention fight; that would make sense to fight me. I don’t know. Maybe I’d fight at a different weight class. I don’t know if they see anybody at heavyweight that would make sense? But I would prefer to fight someone in April or May.”

The idea of a heavyweight tilt is certainly enticing given Henderson’s success against Fedor Emelianenko though, as he admitted, there aren’t a lot of names jumping out at him as being something fans might want to see. The 41-year old also mentioned a rematch with Quinton Jackson as a possibility pending the outcome of Jackson’s bout against Ryan Bader at UFC 144.

With Henderson on the record the ball now appears to be in the UFC’s court. What match-up they’ll throw back remains to be seen though, clearly, “Hendo” is ready for the challenge as long as it makes sense and fans are interested in seeing it go down.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/STRIKEFORCE

News of the change was first reported by MMAJunkie though no specifics as to the cause were revealed. Bisping has also yet to make an official comment on the matter.

Bisping was last seen taking to the Octagon in late January where he was outpointed by top 185-pound contender Chael Sonnen in a fight many felt he should have won. The first hint of his pending separation from Wolfslair may have come while coaching the Ultimate Fighter 14 where his staff lacked some of the gym’s familiar faces in favor of Tiki Ghosn and others.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Gracie spoke with Five Ounces of Pain about becoming the latest in a long line of his family members to fight in Asia, his anguish at being cut by the UFC after only one fight, and how excited he is to be a part of the fastest growing mixed martial arts organization in the world.

Bob Sapp is 100 pounds bigger than you and you are naturally a heavyweight, not a super heavyweight. Did you have any doubts about taking this fight?

Gracie: No, none whatsoever. To me there is no difference between heavyweight and super heavyweight. Its just a number after it gets to the point where you are more than 100 kilograms – you should be ready fight everybody.

I respect Sapp as an opponent. I respect every opponent I fight. You have to give respect to anybody who steps inside the cage and Bob Sapp is no different.  he has a history in the sport, he has beaten so many people, he is massive, and so you have to give him respect.

Sapp’s strength is his striking and he has competed in K-1 and beaten Ernesto Hoost. Do you feel like this is a dangerous match up because his strengths are your weaknesses?

Gracie: It’s a challenge. The power behind his punches is huge so he is definitely dangerous and if I blink I might wake up on my back with people looking down at me. I give him respect and that’s why I trained hard and am ready to do my job. I had a couple of big guys to train with but not as heavy as him. I don’t know how much he even weighs. I think it is between 340lbs and 370 lbs and I had a couple of guys who were 300 lbs so not as big as him but close.

Does having such a large opponent make you more reluctant to shoot for the takedown in case he ends up on top of you?

Gracie: I’m comfortable on my back. It doesn’t matter who is on top of me. I am comfortable it doesn’t make a difference who they are. I am confident in my guard and think I can pull off submissions or sweeps from there.

I’m ready to go three rounds with him if I have to. People say that he is gonna’ gas quick but I didn’t base my camp on that. I am ready to go five rounds if I have to. I trained as if he isn’t ever going to get tired.

Have you focused your training more on striking and MMA, or do you still train BJJ with a gi?

Gracie: I always train with a gi but once it gets close to the fight, like six weeks away, I won’t put the gi on unless I have had a really hard day and just want to do some free rolling. Then I put my gi on and go and roll with my students.

I focus on everything but I cannot forget where I come from or what brought me here which is BJJ so I can’t make the mistake of not training BJJ. I train BJJ and I train the other things like wrestling and boxing.

Sapp fought Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who also has very good BJJ, at a PRIDE event back in 2002. Have you watched that fight again recently?

Gracie: I watched Sapp’s fight with Nogueira. It was an epic. Hopefully my fight won’t be like that but that was a fight which I watched a lot and I could see things I could work on for strategy but the fight happened ten years ago and both him and Noguiera have improved a lot since then so I can’t base too much on that.

You cornered Gregor Gracie at the first ONE FC show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last September. What did you think of that?
The first ONE FC show was awesome, I liked it so much I wanted to fight on the next one. It was a great show and the One FC guys do everything right, they take really good care of the fighters, they put on shows in sold out arenas, it’s awesome.

Gracie: I have been waiting for something like this and the time has come. I’m ready to represent and to put on a show for the Asian fans. My whole family has fought in Asia, not just Renzo Gracie, and this is my third time fighting in Asia and I like the crowd here. It’s the birthplace of martial arts and I think Asia is like where the majority of martial arts were born it’s in people’s DNA to understand martial arts and they love it a lot. It’s a different crowd.

Your only loss came against Joey Beltran in your UFC debut. Did you learn a lot from that experience?

Gracie: I couldn’t prepare the way I wanted and I couldn’t perform the way I wanted. It wasn’t the greatest thing to happen to my career, I would never call a loss a great thing, but I learned a lot from that and it made me change my training and made me think.

I was so excited to fight for the UFC, my last fight was like six months before and I didn’t want to put it off and wait another three months to fight again but the right thing would have been to pull out and get another show.

How disappointed were you to get cut by the UFC after only one fight?

Gracie: I was very disappointed to get cut by the UFC because they knew I was injured and wasn’t 100% but I did the fight anyway and then they didn’t give me another shot . It wasn’t me performing but to be honest I didn’t think I performed that bad. I out-struck Beltra, I took him down, and I mounted him. But my cardio was bad and he was only able to take advantage of me after I ran out of gas and that’s something I can fix. All I had to do was step up my cardio.

Would you ever consider fighting for the UFC again?

Gracie: If they call me I will see but I am happy where I am right now. I’m happy to fight for ONE FC. That’s all I’m thinking of.

Joey Beltran just got cut by the UFC. Would you be interested in a rematch if ONE FC decided to sign him up?

Gracie: I truly believe I can beat Beltran. I think if we fight ten times I’m going to beat him nine. The only time he is going to beat me happened already. I can beat him any area, a grappling match, a wrestling match, a kickboxing match.

So you are confident in your stand up?

Gracie: I am very confident in my stand up, just because I don’t show my striking much doesn’t mean I don’t have striking. I have great striking partners and if I feel if I cannot take somebody down I am happy to use my striking, but if I can take them down I will.

Would you like to be the first ever ONE FC heavyweight champion?

I want to win the ONE FC heavyweight belt. I wanted them to make this fight a championship match but I know they are working on their belts and this is only the second edition of the show but I am looking forward to having that belt. My manager is talking to Victor Cui about future opponents and future shows. I had a great experience with Gregor here and I am ready to embrace this project.

How important to you think it is for there to be a show in Asia which fans all over the world can enjoy instead of just watching the UFC?

Gracie: I don’t believe in monopoly. The more shows we have the better. If you only think about one or two shows you are not really thinking about the sport. The initiative which Cui is doing, partnering up with smaller shows in Asia, is great because it is going to create opportunities for more fighters. If you have only one show how many fighters can you have on your roster? It’s great and this is going to be one of the best shows in the world.

Is there anything else you want to add?

Gracie: I want to thank everyone from Renzo’s team, guys from Fuji gis and Tokyo Fight Brand.

The ONE FC undercard will stream for free starting at about 8:00 AM EST on Saturday morning with the main card available for $9.99. Check out the organization’s website or Facebook Page for more info.

On his Twitter account, Le hinted that he hopes to head back to the Octagon sooner than later, writing, “I’ll be ready to fight soon,” before adding that his plan was for a return this year. No names or dates were mentioned.

Le’s fight came at UFC 139 against Wanderlei Silva who handed him a loss, and a broken nose, for his efforts. The bout was awarded a Fight of the Night distinction as the two exchanged in a serious all-out-brawl for nearly ten minutes before Silva stopped Le with strikes.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE/UFC