Mike Russow is on the brink of something big. The Monte Cox managed prospect is 10-1 with six wins in a row. In a depleted heavyweight division, this makes him something of a prospect. And prospects have to be managed carefully. As Cox looks to secure a big future fight for his fighter in the UFC, in Affliction, or in Japan, it’s more important than ever... 

Jorge Gurgel’s seven fight tenure in the UFC recently ended following consecutive losses to Cole Miller at UFC 86 and Aaron Riley at UFC 91. Soon after the loss to Riley – a bout in which he garnered a $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus – the UFC moved to purge Gurgel from its roster. However, Gurgel’s gutsy performances in the Octagon clearly made... 

The debut of Monte Cox’s Extreme Challenge promotion at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Friday, Jan. 23 is shaping up to have strong drawing power within the Philadelphia and New Jersey markets. Already announced as headlining the show against an opponent yet to be determined is top five ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez, who was raised... 

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned through multiple sources - all speaking on the condition of anonymity - that ProElite’s current management team is hard at work towards completing the sale of the company. Indications are that ProElite believes it could have an agreement in place prior to the Christmas holiday. According to sources, as many as three groups... 

An injury sustained during training has forced lightweight competitor Frankie Edgar out of a scheduled bout vs. Matt Wiman during next Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 16: “UFC Fight for the Troops” event. Replacing Edgar will be another New Jersey based fighter, up and coming lightweight prospect Jim Miller. FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news... 

A planned catchweight bout between Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral and former Olympic Greco-Roman silver medalist Matt Lindland has been scrapped from Affliction Entertainment’s next pay-per-view event scheduled for Jan. 24. FiveOuncesOfPain.com was alerted about the change by a source speaking on the condition... 

A lightweight matchup between Gleison Tibau and Rich Clementi has been finalized and is set to take place in February during either UFC Fight Night 17 on Feb. 7 or UFC 95 on Feb. 21. InTheGuard.tv was the force to report the possibility of the matchup and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has since confirmed with sources close to both fighters that Clementi and Tibau have... 

Wednesday’s WEC 37 event featuring Miguel Torres making his second career defense of the WEC bantamweight against Manny Tapia hasn’t garnered much publicity in recent weeks. And that’s a shame, as Torres is one of the top ten best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and those who elect not to watch Wednesday’s telecast (8 p.m. ET on... 

Smith, left, and Wheelock, right, at a recent M-1 event The M-1 Challenge broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Sean Wheelock and color commentator Jimmy Smith might be one of the best kept secrets in MMA. However, after Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view event on Jan. 24, the tandem will likely be a secret no more after they debut... 

Martin Kampmann is latest fighter to be added to the card for UFC 93 on Jan. 17 in Dublin, Ireland, FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned. Kampmann, who recently signed a contract extension with the UFC, will be making his welterweight debut on the show against an opponent to be determined. The Denmark native is 13-2 in his professional mixed martial arts career and... 

Editor’s note: This letter is from Tim Kennedy, Army Ranger and former IFL fighter who is currently deployed abroad with his unit. He wanted to send his best wishes from…well, I can’t tell you, so we are using FOREIGN LAND. We at FiveOuncesOfPain.com would like to thank Tim for his service, and our friends at RangerUp for making this feature possible.... 

The Bellator Fighting Championships, which will begin a 12-week fight series on ESPN Deportes in April, has confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that the promotion is interested in possibly signing former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed the news during an exclusive interview with Five Ounces of Pain on Friday. “We’re... 

Luigi Fioravanti is eager to get things back on track following his gutsy third round stoppage loss to Diego Sanchez back in June of this year. In the fight game, you’re only as good as your last fight and words never rang more true than in the UFC. The Sanchez defeat killed positive momentum that Fioravanti had generated following impressive back-to-back... 

There will be a new announce team for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view event, which is scheduled for Jan. 24 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Calling the shots this time around will be Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith, who currently serve as the announce team for the M-1 Challenge, which can be seen every Friday in the United... 

A rumored welterweight matchup between Dan Hardy and Rory Markham that would place at UFC 95 at the O2 Arena in London on Feb. 17 has gained a lot of traction on various Internet news outlets over the course of the last week. Despite the high level of speculation surrounding the proposed matchup, FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned Friday evening that the fight is not... 

One of the most talked about interviews I published this year was an extensive conversation with former ICON Sport promoter T. Jay Thompson that proceeded EliteXC’s October collapse. Thompson, who sold ICON to ProElite in 2007, was retained by EliteXC as a consultant but it was a role that caused him great frustration. While the promotion made mistake after...