“I’m really grateful BAMMA have given me this chance to fight on such a big card against a high level athlete like Trigg,” Wallhead said of his addition to the card. “It’s a test that I’m looking forward to but I hope he doesn’t think I’m just a late replacement who is there for a quick payday. I’m there to get back to where I belong…at the top, above people like him.”

Wallhead is coming off a decision loss to then-undefeated Rick Hawn earlier this year in the opening round of Bellator’s Season 4 welterweight tournament but had won twelve of thirteen fights before the defeat including eight straight. Nicknamed “Judo” Jim based on his success as an amateur Judoka and training under Olympian Neil Adams, the 27-year old holds an overall record of 21-6 with notable wins over Ryan Thomas, Jason Tan, and Che Mills.

Also set to scrap at BAMMA 7, TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero takes on 11-4 finisher Tim Radcliffe while BAMMA lightweight champ Rob Sinclair faces BJJ blackbelt Leonardo Santos.

PHOTO CREDIT – BAMMA/UFC

The fight was first reported by MMAFighting with Trigg’s manager offering confirmation of the upcoming clash.

Dubbed “The White Mike Tyson” based on his ferocious style, the 13-3 Phillips has won seven of his last eight fights included five straight, has twelve TKOs to his credit, and should absolutely pose a legitimate threat to Trigg whose last three defeats all came by way of strikes. He most recently defeated SRC alumnus James Zikic a little more than ninety seconds into their bout at BAMMA 4 last September.

Trigg is a long-time veteran of the sport with the gift of gab and a well-rounded arsenal to back it up. The 38-year old, who celebrates his birthday two weeks before fighting Phillips on May 21, holds an overall record of 20-8 with notable wins over Niko Vitale, Kazuo Misaki, Dennis Hallman, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

BAMMA 6 is headlined by a title-fight between Murilo “Ninja” Rua and popular Englander Tom Watson, and will also feature Phil Baroni in action against British grappler Matt Ewin.

The evening will be a particularly memorable one for Shonie Carter though unfortunately for the wrong reasons. “Mr. International” found himself on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against local product Jeremy Knafo, who was making his professional debut, and openly questioned his future in the sport shortly after the defeat. Whether or not he will retire remains to be seen, but the possibility was certainly laid out there by Carter.

Also losing based on the judges’ scorecards to a lesser-experienced Israeli, former WEC lightweight champ and one-time challenger for the UFC’s 155-pound title Hermes Franca was outpointed by Moshe Kaitz who had been 2-2 entering the bout. The loss was Franca’s sixth in his last seven fights.

However, while Franca and Carter fell at the event, a handful of their Zuffa-stamped brethren were able to escape unscathed including Frank Trigg, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jeff Monson, and Ricco Rodriguez.

Sokoudjou got back on the winning track against Valdas Pocevicius, a Lithuanian with more than 60 fights under his belt, after having lost back-to-back bouts by way of TKO.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Rodriguez, who faced 16-4-3 Daniel Tabera, also won via decision in what was to be his unveiling at 205 lbs. (he came in around ten pounds over). Rodriguez has now notched a victory in ten straight in-ring appearances.

Scoring a finish at the event, Monson submitted 26-year old Russian Sergey Shemetov with a Keylock a little over four minutes into the first round of their match-up, while Trigg had the night’s only knockout. “The Snowman” was later challenged by Rodriguez to a future scrap after having also stated his interest in making a divisional drop.

Meanwhile, “Twinkletoes” Trigg had the night’s only knockout, pounding Roy Neeman out less than three minutes into their catch-weight affair after dropping him to the mat with some well-places strikes.

Here is the rundown of remaining results from “IFC – Genesis”:

Roy Peretz def. Fabrice Riconneau via Submission Round 1 (Triangle Choke)
Ido Pariente def. Joshua Hewlett via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Vitali Karberski def. Serob Minasyan via Unanimous Decision
Thiago Meller def. Ariel Abargel via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Alexandro Ceconi def. Vitaly Shemetov via Submission Round 1(Triangle Choke)
Daniel Gracie def. Martin Wojcik via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)

Matt Serra

Serra recently confirmed the news of his participation in the bout through a recent report over at The Fight Network.

While nothing has been made official, the event is expected to take place from The Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on February 6, 2010.

Serra will be looking to place himself back into the winners column following back to back defeats at the hands of Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes on the heels of the biggest win of his professional career when he shocked the world in TKO’ing GSP for the UFC welterweight crown. Serra has fought his last thirteen professional bouts with the UFC where he has earned a record of 7-6.

Trigg’s back is likely against the wall in this fight as his position with the UFC was questionable upon his recent first round stoppage at the hands of Josh Koscheck at UFC 103. “Twinkle Toes” is a veteran of PRIDE, Sengoku, Strikeforce and the UFC, where he has put together a record of 2-4 inside of the Octagon.

Serra revealed during a conversation with MMAFanhouse.com that he has recently agreed to participate in the event that has been pegged for February 6 in Las Vegas.

While an opponent has yet to be determined for Serra, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt went on to reveal that Frank Trigg was one of the front runners for the spot.

Serra will be looking to bounce back from back to back defeats at the hands of Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre following his shocking knockout over GSP during UFC 69 on the heels of his TUF 4 championship performance.

If Trigg ends up facing Serra at UFC 110 he will undoubtedly be in a sink or swim position coming off of his first round TKO defeat via Josh Koscheck during UFC 103.

After a lackluster performance where Trigg was defeated in a first round TKO by Josh Koscheck at UFC 103, Dana White suggested “Twinkle Toes” has fought his last fight in the octagon. Trigg himself was quoted as saying if this were the case; he would walk away from MMA altogether.

However, Trigg learned on Monday the UFC would give the veteran fighter one more shot with the organization. He recently spoke with MMAJunkie.com and discussed his situation, “I’ll get one more shot, another fight, to prove I belong here. If I win, they’ve got to keep me around. If I lose and it’s back-to-back losses, they’ll probably drop me, rightfully so.”

Initial reports were that his UFC deal was a one and done, stemming from the beat-down he received by Koscheck, but Trigg said he was told a different story by the UFC, “They basically said, ‘If you lose, we have to keep you for one more fight since Josh is a top-five guy and it’s such a tough fight. That’s why I was so surprised that Dana said that I was being cut.”

It now seems by the grace of the UFC or the overwhelming argument from fans about Trigg being cut, he is being given at least one more opportunity to prove he’s still the premier fighter he once was.

Trigg ended by saying, “I’m ready to fight, and I want to fight,” he said. “But I just want to fight in the UFC.”

In a recent report on MMAJunkie.com, UFC President Dana White made it clear that a return to the Octagon anytime soon for Trigg would be extremely unlikely due to the one-sided nature of his recent loss.

According to Trigg during the same report, if he’s cut from the UFC, that’s all she wrote. He’s stepping away from the game.

“If they say I’m done, I’m done,” explained Trigg. “If the UFC cuts me, I’m done fighting. I don’t have the strength or determination to go fight in the minor leagues anymore. I’ve done it before.

“I didn’t come back here for one fight … so I could say I retired as a UFC fighter. I came back to make a run at a title fight. I want to fight. But if they’re done with me, that’s it.”

Sources close to the event have recently confirmed the news of the bout to MMAJunkie.com.

Trigg will be making his first appearance in the UFC since 2005. He recently signed a four fight deal to return to the organization after back-to-back losses to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes led to his release from the company four years ago.

Trigg is currently riding a four-fight win streak heading into his bout with Koscheck

After winning seven of his first eight fights in the UFC, Koscheck has gone just 3-3 in his last six fights. Tough decision losses to Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves are understandable but then came a surprising TKO defeat to Paulo Thiago in his most recent outing.

Koscheck will look to get back on track September 26 when he steps into the cage against Trigg.

The news recently came from a report issued by MMAJunkie.com.

Trigg recently turned 37 and went 2-3 in his first go-around in the UFC that lasted from 2003-2005.

Trigg made his octagon debut at UFC 45 where he lost to Matt Hughes. It was the first of two losses he would suffer to Hughes via rear-naked choke that still haunt Trigg to this very day.

Trigg’s final fight for the company was a submission loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 54. He is 7-2 since leaving the organization in 2005.

Trigg has fought for ICON Sport, where he defeated Jason “Mayhem” Miller to win the organization’s middleweight title in 2006. He’s also appeared in PRIDE, HDNet Fights, World Victory Road’s “Sengoku” event series and Strikeforce.

Trigg is currently riding a four-fight win streak, with six wins in his past seven fights. He is expected to make his return to the UFC this fall or early winter at the latest.

Undercard:

• Valentijn Overeem def. Yoshihiki Takahashi via KO (flying knee) at 2:42 of round one
• Moise Rimbon def. Peter Graham via submission (rear naked choke) at :42 of round two
• Yang Dong Yi def. Pawel Nastula via TKO at 2:15 of round two

Lightweight Grand Prix Bouts:

• Mizuto Hirota def. Ryan Schultz via KO (superman punch) at 4:25 of round two
• Kazunori Yokata def. Bojan Kosednar via unanimous decision
• Eiji Mitsuoka def. Rodrigo Damm via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:13 of round one
• Satoru Kitaoka def. Clay French via submission (achilles lock) at :31 of round one

Co-Main Event:

• Frank Trigg def. Makoto Takimoto via unanimous decision

Main Event:

• Takanori Gomi def. Seung Hwan Bang via unanimous decision

The release also announced a middleweight matchup between Frank Trigg and Falaniko Vitale. While Strikeforce has officially announced the matchup, Trigg himself has yet to confirm it.

When contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com via e-mail on Wednesday, Trigg said he had not signed with the promotion and that he would not make any decisions about his next fight until after facing Makoto Takimoto at Sengoku 4 on Aug. 2.

According to MMAjunkie.com, Trigg said he plans to compete for Strikeforce on Oct. 3 but that he doesn’t want to sign a contract and fully commit and run the risk of not being able to fight. He indicated that he also wants to remain focused on Takimoto.

The release also confirmed a previously leaked matchup between Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Sammy “The Squeeze” Morgan with welterweights Phil Baroni and Pete Spratt announced to be in action as well.

Update: Cox confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com on Tuesday afternoon that a signed contract was indeed FAX’ed back to EliteXC officials on Monday evening. 

A verbal agreement for Antonio Silva to fight former UFC heavyweight title challenger Justin Eilers during EliteXC’s second-ever CBS telecast on July 26 has been secured.

EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw revealed the news when contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier this afternoon.

Five Ounces of Pain later contacted Eilers’ manager, Monte Cox, who indicated that it is their intention to FAX a signed contract to EliteXC officials later today.

It is still uncertain whether the Silva vs. Eilers fight will be for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title, but Shaw indicated a belt will more than likely be at stake when the two square off.

Other fighters such as IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson and Sergei Kharitonov had been rumored as potential challengers for a possible title fight vs. Silva. When asked about specific names, Shaw declined to answer, but he did state that EliteXC officials had contacted several other fighters in addition to Eilers in regards to fighting Silva. According to Shaw, the other fighters had either outright declined the fight or priced themselves out of the picture.

Eilers is perhaps best known to casual fight fans for his first round TKO loss against then-UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in the main event of UFC 53 in 2005. He then returned to the UFC at UFC 57, where he was knocked out at 1:25 of round 1 against Brandon Vera. The loss to Vera dropped Eilers’ UFC record to 1-3 and he was not brought back to the promotion. However, since leaving the UFC, he has won 10 of his last 11 fights and is on a current three fight win streak.

Eilers last competed at IFC’s Cage Combat card on April 26, where recorded a TKO over heavyweight veteran Wade Shipp at 3:50 of round 4. Some of his more notable wins in his last eleven fights include victories over Matt Thompson, Sherman Pendergarst, Jimmy Ambriz, along with a previous win over Shipp.

Silva is 3-0 lifetime in EliteXC and holds a 10-1 overall lifetime record in MMA. A product of American Top Team in Florida, Silva’s most notable wins have been recorded against Tengis Tedoradze, Ruben “Warpath” Villareal, Tom Erikson, Wesley “Cabbage” Correia, and former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez.

EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” on July 26 will emanate from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif. and will be headlined by a rematch for the EliteXC middleweight title between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. In a co-featured bout, Jake Shields is also scheduled to fight for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title vs. Nick Thompson.