The event is scheduled for November 14 from Manchester, England.

It has recently been reported by the Fighters Only Magazine official website that Kang has been offered the bout by the UFC, although nothing is set in stone at this time.

Of course Bisping will be looking to bounce back from the devastating knockout loss suffered at the hands of Dan Henderson at UFC 100, while Kang looks to improve upon his UFC 97 decision victory over “Professor X”, Xavier Foupa-Pokam.

A headliner for the card has yet to be determined but there are current rumors of a highly anticipated lightweight bout as the main event. Stay tuned….

The news of Foupa-Pokman’s signing and his scheduled debut against Kang was first reported by MMAjunkie.com and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has since confirmed the news with a source close to the fighter.

Foupa-Pokam, 20-9, won last week at Palace Fighting Championships 12 with a first round knockout over Kyacey Uscola following a flying knee to the body. The 26-year old French native has won 12 of his last 13 fights and has competed for the DEEP, Cage Rage, and Jungle Fight promotions.

His opponent, Kang, fell to 31-11-1 following a second round submission defeat against Alan Belcher at UFC 93 earlier this month. A native of Canada, Kang at one point was ranked as a top ten middleweight by all of the major rankings polls in existence. The former PRIDE superstar earned a reputation as one of the world’s best with notable victories over Andrei Semenov, Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Amar Suloev, and Akihiro Gono.

UFC 97 is set to take place on Saturday, April 18 and will emanate from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. In addition to Foupa-Pokam vs. Kang, the card is set to be headlined by Anderson Silva defending his UFC middleweight title vs. Thales Leites. Additionally, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell will return to action against former PRIDE star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Other reported matchups for UFC 97 include David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman, Brian Stann vs. Krzysztof Soszynski, Luiz Cane vs. Steve Cantwell, Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden, T.J. Grant vs. Ryo Chonan, Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry, and Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman.

Many of PRIDE’s once mighty stars have now migrated to the UFC, and with few exceptions all have provided their share of disappointing moments.

When the UFC “stole” Mirko Cro Cop from PRIDE in late-2006, many pundits believed that the promotion had executed one of the biggest coups in the sport’s young history. However, the end result was nothing more than one of the sports biggest busts.

The Croatian striking specialist made his UFC debut at UFC 67 in February 2007 against a hand-picked opponent in Eddie Sanchez. The matchup was put together as a showcase for Cro Cop to demonstrate to American fight fans the same lethal left high kick that made him a star in Japan.

It’s almost two years later and UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC President Dana White are still waiting for that coffin kick. The disappointment created by Cro Cop’s TKO of Sanchez via punches instead of the infamous high kick pales in comparison to the upset defeats he’d go on to suffer against Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo.

The theory of a PRIDE curse began to gain traction even before Cro Cop’s formal arrival. At the time, Heath Herring’s unanimous decision to Jake O’Brien at UFC Fight Night 8 seemed like an aberration at the time. Little did we know that it would become a trend.

At UFC 73, Herring stepped up and gave former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira a run for his money. Then, Marcus Aurelio lost his Octagon debut to Clay Guida at UFC 74. At UFC 79, Wanderlei Silva lost in his return to the UFC against Chuck Liddell.

Still not buying the idea that a “PRIDE curse” truly exists?

Do you need to be reminded that both Silva and Nogueira are coming off disappointing performances at UFC 92 last month; that Fabricio Werdum was dropped from the promotion soon after being upset by newcomer Junior dos Santos at UFC 90; and that Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou got the pink slip following his UFC 89 loss to Luiz Cane.

Is it overkill to mention that Bushido standouts Akihiro Gono and Ryo Chonan are a combined 2-3 inside of the Octagon and that Kazuhiro Nakamura not only went 0-2, but tested positive for marijuana following his debut at UFC 76?

Oh, and how could I forget the horrific encore at UFC 93 of Shogun Rua’s submission loss to Forrest Griffin during his Octagon debut at UFC 76? Did we really wait a year and a half for that performance? Rua is lucky that he won, otherwise, he might have joined Aurelio, Werdum, and Sokoudjou as former PRIDE standouts that were sent packing by the UFC.

Thus far, the only PRIDE success stories in the UFC are Dan Henderson and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson but there are a couple of caveats that must be mentioned. First, Henderson fought in the UFC before he ever competed in PRIDE and Jackson came over to the UFC directly from the now-defunct WFA as opposed to coming directly from PRIDE.

Was it unreasonable to expect Kang to “break the curse?” Considering Kang went through a 13 month stretch between 2007-2008 in which he lost three times in four fights, the expectations set for him might have been too high.

But those high expectations were set because Kang was once a consensus top ten middleweight who has recorded notable victories over Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Amar Suloev, Andrei Semenov, and Gono. After recording consecutive victories over Marvin Eastman and Jae Young Kim on small shows, Kang fans thought he might be back to his former self.

There was a hope leading up to his UFC debut that the semi-high profile free agent acquisition could emerge as a legitimate challenger to current middleweight champion Anderon Silva after recording 1-2 wins. After the first round, Kang hardly looked like a legitimate threat to Silva but he didn’t look bad either.

Despite appearing stiff and mechanical while standing against Belcher, Kang was still efficient in his striking and showed a decisive advantage on the ground during brief exchanges. It appeared as though Kang was getting over some rust and Octagon jitters before hitting his stride. But before he could, seemingly out of nowhere, Kang displayed one of his mental errors that have become trademark in recent years. He left his neck out and Belcher took it, forcing him to tap with just 24 seconds remaining in the round.

Despite the disappointing effort, Kang remains an extremely gifted fighter who could still emerge as a challenger to Silva. While the UFC brass can’t be happy with his performance, he will likely get second and even a third chance because he is of Korean heritage and the company has plans to expand into South Korea in the future. The fact that Kang is also a Canadian citizen is another feather in his cap as Canadian UFC fans love to support their own.

Needless to say, Kang will get a second chance to make a first impression. However, when you look at the history of all of PRIDE’s former stars that have tried and failed to establish themselves in the UFC, the odds of making it aren’t in his favor.

Kang is most recently coming off a win against Marvin Eastman via first round TKO at Raw Combat: Redemption just a couple weeks back. Kang sports a record of 31-10 professionally but has gone 3-2 in his last five fights.

Alan Belcher fought last at UFC Fight Night 15, recording a controversial split decision victory over Team Quest fighter Ed Herman. Belcher sports a 4-3 record in the UFC since joining the organization in 2006. He carries a record of 13-5 professionally coming into the fight with Kang.

UFC 93 will be the promotion’s first foray into Irish territory. The card’s main event features a light heavyweight matchup between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson as well as former UFC heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer, Mark Coleman, facing off in a rematch against Mauricio Rua.

WEC 36 Fallout

Big ups to Mike Brown for taking care of business with Urijah Faber but I’ll still take Faber in a rematch any day of the week. Everything Brown is good at, Faber is just that much better. I don’t want to say Brown got lucky because we know he has power and we know that he is very good, but had Faber not thrown that silly elbow would we even be talking about Mike Brown today? My guess is no. Faber got way too overconfident with that elbow and jumped directly into a solid right hand. My guess is that next time Faber will be more cautious, as well he should be. An immediate rematch seems very likely and I’ll bet on Faber again for sure.

Paulo Filho lost himself a spot in the world’s top MMA organization last night. The performance that he put on was one of the most horrendous performances in the history of MMA. The fact that Filho weighed in seven pounds over showed that he clearly did not care about making weight for the fight. I mean, coming in two pounds or one pound overweight is understandable. But seven pounds? It doesn’t get much more unprofessional. And the unprofessionalism carried over into the fight as well. Whether it be personal demons, drugs, whatever, Filho needs to get himself together and do it quick or he’s not going to be relevant much longer in MMA. For someone with as much talent as he possesses it is a crying shame that he clearly doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

Leonard Garcia is very legit at 145 lbs. At 155 he was overpowered and outsized but 145 lbs. looks to be perfect for him. He has fast hands, good boxing, knockout power, a decent ground game, and most important of all: gameness. He’s made a strong case for a shot at the title at 145 lbs. with wins over Hiroyuki Takaya and Pulver.

Jake Rosholt, as good as he is, needs big time work on his standup. I fear for him in the UFC’s middleweight division. Even though it’s not their strongest division, it is a division which will give someone as one dimensional as Rosholt some major problems. Rosholt looked great in his wrestling and ground game last night, don’t get me wrong. But his standup, specifically his standup defense, was atrocious. The UFC, who is likely banking on Rosholt to become a future star, will have to be very careful with who they match him up with. Beating Osterneck was a very solid win for him, but the damage he took during the fight must be minimized in the future.

In other news this week…

TUF 8 is awful

I’ve been harping on how terrible this show is for the past few seasons for a long, long time now as have many other people. But peeing in fruit and letting the other team eat it and then retaliating by masturbating onto sushi? That’s just downright ridiculous. The show has officially jumped the shark if it hadn’t already done so. The show has been terrible and stale for a long time now but it officially reached a new low with last night’s episode. Poor showing on Dana White’s part to even be involved in putting that product on television and putting his seal of approval on it. When there’s piss, sperm, and the threat of feces involved it’s time to take a step back and ask how this show stooped so low.

ProElite is auctioning itself off

And using banner ads on MMA websites to do so. Does it get much more tacky? It’s like an infomercial. “You too can own your very own KIMBO SLICE! Or Frank Shamrock! Highest bidder wins, wins, wins!” Not to mention the fact that it’s a total dick move to all the fighters that their contracts will be held up in some ridiculous auction. Guys like Dave Herman, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Eddie Alvarez, etc. are being held in limbo when they could be out actively searching for employment, getting paid, and looking for better opportunities. The company is a complete and total joke and this stunt is just one more incident in a long line of stupid, stupd incidents. Here’s to hoping these fighters somehow find a way to get out of the contracts or that someone with some sense buys the company and its assets.

Denis Kang signs a four-fight deal with the UFC

This is a very strong addition to the UFC’s middleweight division even if Kang has lost some fights recently. He’s still young, he’s still a very explosive fighter, and has a lot of fights left in him. His first fight, however, will most likely be a tough one as the UFC’s middleweight division, while not their best, is still very competitive. Even a fight againt someone like Jason MacDonald could be a dangerous fight for Kang. Nice addition to the weight class, though, for sure. Kang is skilled, has the look, and is a commodity for foreign expansion. Solid move by the UFC to nab him.

Pat Miletich returns at Adrenaline MMA 2

Okay, first of all, who thought Adrenaline MMA 2 would be a good idea? Anyone? I can’t think of a single person who has been all “Man, I really wish Adrenaline would run another show.” You know why? Because the first Adrenaline show was terrible. Now, that being said, can anyone imagine a good reason for Pat Miletich to get back into the sport right now? I certainly can’t, especially not against Thomas Denny who can be a dangerous opponent if given an opening. I’m not one to tell a legend when he should hang up the gloves but this is dicey. Let’s just say that I’d much rather see Miletich coaching up and coming athletes rather than getting back into fighting himself.

Both fighters spent the first twenty seconds of the bout feeling each other out with jabs before Kang moved in and landed a looping overhand right that put Eastman on the canvas. The victory is Kang’s second straight since he dropped consecutive bouts to Yoshihiro Akiyama and Gegard Mousasi. Kang currently has one bout remaining on his existing K-1 contract.

Also on Saturday’s card was a rematch between KOTC Canada heavyweight champion Tim Hague and Miodrag Petkovic. Hague gained his redemption as he earned a unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds.

Raw Combat: Redemption Results

Denis Kang def. Marvin Eastman – KO 1 0:46
Bibiano Fernandes def. Len Tam – Submission (Triangle Choke) 1 0:58
Trevor Stewardson def. Brendan Seguin – TKO 3 2:03
Tim Hague def. Miodrag Petkovic – Unanimous Decision
Ryan Ford def. Nabil Khatib – Unanimous Decision
Andrew Buckland def. Garett Davis – KO 1 1:43
Brad Cardinal def. Myles Merola – Submission (Triangle Choke) 1 4:15
Hardeep Singh def. Bernie Antle – TKO 1 2:29
Nathan Gunn def. Jaret Evans – Unanimous Decision
Matt Bagshaw def. Wes Jaya – Submission (Keylock) 1 4:13
Keto Allen def. Mike Rowbotham – Submission 2 1:40

Kang, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 30-10-1. Kang holds victories over Akihiro Gono, Amar Suloev, Murilo Rua, and Mark Weir. Kang was last in action at Spirit MC 18: The Champion where he successfully defended his middleweight title against Jae Young Kim.

“We’re two athletic guys who like to get out there and swing. It’s going to be a very heated fight,” Kang explained in a press release. “There’s going to be a lot of desire by the both of us to win. I’m coming off a couple of losses and he is as well so we’re both going to be really hungry. Neither of us are going to take this fight lightly or take any shortcuts in training. That’s for sure.”

Eastman, a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 15-8-1. Eastman holds victories over Terry Martin, Rob Kimmons, Alan Belcher and Travis Wiuff. He last fought at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale losing to heavy handed Drew McFedries.

In the Raw Combat: Redemtion press release, Eastman said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been up there. It will bring back memories. The people there were great to me. My objective is to finish the fight as fast as possible so it doesn’t go to the judges. He’s a popular guy, a top-5 middleweight and a great opponent but the bottom line is when we get in that cage, I don’t respect anybody.”

Also on the card will be King of the Cage Canada heavyweight champion Tim Hague who’ll be battling Miodrag Petkovic in a rematch of their Feb. 1st affair.

Raw Combat was formed earlier this year after Dave Houshiar left the now defunct Hardcore Championship Fighting. Their first event featured UFC veteran David Loiseau, Travis Galbraith, Bibiano Fernandes, and Carlo Prater.

The news comes courtesy of a press release issued by Canada-based MMA promotion TKO, which indicated during a recent announcement that Hominick has re-signed with them that he is also likely to compete for Affliction in July.

A two-time TKO featherweight champion with seven successful title defenses to his credit, Hominick is 2-0 lifetime in the UFC with wins over Jorge Gurgel and Yves Edwards.

Hominick’s WEC record is the exact opposite of that in the UFC, as he’s 0-2 with losses to Rani Yahya and Josh Grispi. He became a free agent after submitting in the first round to Grispi during the WEC’s February show in Albuquerque.

There is no word on a date for Hominick’s return bout in TKO and no official announcement has been made by Affliction in regards to Hominick’s reported involvement with the upstart promotion. In fact, no official announcement of any kind has been made in regard to Affliction’s reported July debut.

While no official information pertaining to the show is available, Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage reported last week that a main event involving former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia is being discussed for the inaugural show.

Undercard bouts featuring the likes of Matt Lindland, Ben Rothwell, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and Pedro Rizzo have been rumored as well.

Hominick broke a two-fight losing streak with a first round TKO over Ben Greer. According to TFN, the win could lead to a return to the WEC for Hominick with Alex Karalexis being discussed as a potential opponent.

TFN is also reporting that Hominick is planning to start training on a regular basis at Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, NV.