Stevenson’s newly acquired “free agent” status was first reported by MMAFighting.

The 29-year old rose to championship contention with a series of consecutive victories at 155-pounds after dropping down the instant the promotion opened the cage-doors to lightweights in 2006. Among the wins were stoppages against Yves Edwards and Melvin Guillard, as well as a decision over Kurt Pellegrino earning him a crack at B.J. Penn who ultimately carved him up, then choked him out.

Though Joe “Daddy” followed the loss up with an outpointing of Gleison Tibau, he’s struggled to find consistency in the Octagon since with poor performances in bouts against Diego Sanchez and Ken Florian followed up by superb showings against Nate Diaz and Spencer Fisher.

Hoping to remedy his struggles, Stevenson decided to test the featherweight waters last month at UFC Live 4 where he lost via Unanimous Decision to WEC veteran Javier Vazquez.

As it stands, Stevenson exits the UFC with an overall record of 31-14 including fifteen submissions and five TKOs.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The change in weight-classes may help rekindle the one-time contender’s UFC career or potentially end it for the foreseeable future depending on the outcome of his bout with Vazquez. The 33-13 Stevenson has gone 3-5 since losing to B.J. Penn at UFC 80 including a trio of consecutive losses in his last three outings. However, the Californian holds wins over a number of notable peers including Melvin Guillard, Kurt Pellegrino, and Nate Diaz, and seems better suited for smaller opposition given his 5’7” frame.

Though Vazquez has yet to show his goods in the Octagon yet, fans of WEC are likely familiar with the submission specialist’s skills based on an exciting run in the organization during 2009-2010. He holds an overall record of 15-5 with eleven victories via submission and the impressive note of all five losses coming as the result of a decision (three of which were Split).

No other match-ups have been announced for the event though a clash between heavyweight kickboxers Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry has been rumored for the summer show.

PHOTO CREDIT – ZUFFA

Backed by an official press release issued later in the day, undercard competitor Danny Castillo recently took to Twitter and wrote he’d just learned his scrap with Joe Stevenson will be shown by way of the UFC’s official page. The two lightweights are currently on opposite trajectories where career momentum is concerned as the 10-3 Team Alpha Male fighter has won his last two fights with “Daddy” having dropped back-to-back bouts in his previous pair of performances.

“Last Call” Castillo is 5-2 in his last seven outings including a decision win over rising star Dustin Poirier at WEC 50 and TKOs of Rafael Dias and Phil Cardella in 2009. He last fought in December at WEC 53 where he rendered Will Kerr defenseless from strikes a little less than ninety seconds into the opening round.

Comparably, Stevenson has certainly established himself as more of a contender in the division with past wins over Kurt Pellegrino, Spencer Fisher, Yves Edwards, Melvin Guillard, and Nate Diaz but has struggled as of late with four losses in his last six fights including a first-round knockout to Mac Danzig at UFC 124 in December.

The Facebook stream will begin at 8:00 PM EST with the main card starting on Versus an hour later. Prior to Castillo vs. Stevenson fans can also tune in to watch Steve Cantwell take on Cyrille Diabate.

The “UFC Live 3” main broadcast is set to feature welterweights Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann facing off in headlining action with 184-pounders C.B. Dollaway and Mark Munoz also mixing it up on the card.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

According to Stevenson, know matter how far you have come in your career “Once you get really stagnant, you have to do something about it and not talk about it.”

That’s why the long top rated lightweight packed up his gear and made the trek to Albuquerque, New Mexico to hook up with one of the most respected trainers in the game, Greg Jackson.

With a clear head and a fresh outlook on his career, Stevenson hopes to get back in the win column this evening as he faces off with the extremely durable and dangerous Nate Diaz at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale that is set to air live on Spike TV.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com had the opportunity to catch up with Joe “Daddy” just prior to one of the most pivotal bouts in his career to discuss his feelings on Diaz, training with Jackson, a desired match-up with Shinya Aoki and much more.

Cory Brady for FiveOuncesOfPain.com: How old were you when you saw your first fighting event and what were some of the things you remember going through your head?

Joe Stevenson: It was the second UFC. I was at my friend Jason Brady’s house and they had it on Pay-Per-View. I believe I was about eleven years old. I never would have thought that this is what I was going to end up doing at that point. I thought it was cool that there was karate vs. wrestling, and kung-fu vs. boxing type match-ups. I actually started wrestling at the age of eleven because I thought I was in the WWF. As a teen, as I started getting better at wrestling, I started doing Judo and Jiu-Jitsu. That was really the catalyst for my future in MMA. It ended up turning into just Jiu-Jitsu, Jiu-Jitsu. So at the age of sixteen I wanted to see if everything I had been learning actually works so I got my first pro fight.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: You said sixteen was your first professional fight?

Joe Stevenson: Yeah, sixteen.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: How does that even happen? Was it a sanctioned match?

Joe Stevenson: Back in the day there was no real sanctioning of the bouts and it wasn’t really legal. Mainly because people didn’t know that much about it so it was kind of frowned upon. But you could fight on Indian reservations and get around it that way as long as mom and dad signed a waiver.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Looking back at your decision loss to Diego and having had a chance to go back and watch that fight, do you feel like Diego did enough to be granted that decision?

Joe Stevenson: I can’t tell you the truth on that one. I honestly haven’t even bothered re-watching that fight. I was really upset at myself and wanted to make a change. I knew something was wrong and had to be fixed so that’s why I came out here to Albuquerque to train with Greg Jackson.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Is that a fight that you want back at some point down the road?

Joe Stevenson: Possibly, yeah. But to be able to do that, I don’t know that now that I’m with Greg that I would want to put him in a situation like that.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Is this the first fight that you have ever trained at Greg Jackson’s for?

Joe Stevenson: Yeah.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: So how did you end up hooking up with Greg and making that switch?

Joe Stevenson: Well Rashad and Keith were both on The Ultimate Fighter with me, and I was talking to Rashad after he won the title, congratulating him, and he said that I should come out here. I was kind of batting it around but I wasn’t really sure and then he called me up again and he was like,”Come on, you said you wanted to do something about yourself and about your training. I thought you said you were going to call Greg.” And I was like,”Actually I haven’t called him yet.” If it wasn’t for Rashad I don’t know how motivated I would have been to come out here and train. It was really my friendship with Rashad that brought me out here, and of course my belief in Greg Jackson and his coaching ability.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: You’ve been training for most of your life it seems, do you feel like sometimes you just have to go somewhere else to kind of get that new and fresh look on things?

Joe Stevenson: When you’re ripe you rot, when you’re green you grow. it was certainly time for a type of change for me, and I think it was the best thing for me. I think that anyone in that division, once you get really stagnant, you have to do something about it and not talk about it.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: How do you feel you match up with Nate Diaz?

Joe Stevenson: I think that Nate’s an awesome competitor. He’s a good fighter, very tough and well rounded. I think that we match-up very well stylistically. I don’t see this fight going to a decision by any means. I feel like this is a fight that I can win on my feet or on the ground, and it’s going to be me pushing the pace.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Do you feel like you are still just a couple wins away from another title shot?

Joe Stevenson: I’m not even thinking abut that right now.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: So it’s just all about that next fight for you at this point?

Joe Stevenson: Yeah.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian. How do you see that fight unfolding?

Joe Stevenson: I think Kenny has a lot of tools and he’s very skilled but I honestly have a lot of faith in B.J.  I think he’s going to be just a little more overwhelming than what Kenny is expecting.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: I see Shinya Aoki ranked near the top of may lightweight polls these days. What are your thoughts on Aoki and how do you feel he would do in the UFC’s lightweight division?

Joe Stevenson: I think that Aoki is a very tough fighter and he’s really well rounded. It’s actually been a thing of mine to want to fight him. It’s all about testing yourself. I would love to fight him. Whether he got into the UFC or not. I think that he’s an awesome fighter.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Have you had a chance to check out UFC Undisputed 2009 yet, and if so, have you played with your character yet?

Joe Stevenson: I bought the game. I didn’t get one for free. I was hoping to get one for free. So I bought the game for myself and I bought one for the kids. Honestly, I played it for one game. I’m such a competitive person that I felt that if I would have given everything I had playing that game it would have engulfed me and taken away from everything I need to be focusing on for the fight. So I only played one fight against my buddy and I won. Then I told him I would never play it again. I did not play with my character. My friend tried to pick me and I was like,”No! I’m not going to beat myself”.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Joe Stevenson: Actually yeah. I want to thank MMAWarehouse.com, Sprawl and Warrior Wear.

The UFC has yet to officially announce the matchup but MMAjunkie.com has confirmed the fight with sources close to the bout. MMAMadness.com was the first site to report of the matchup’s possibility.

Both Diaz and Stevenson will look to rebound from recent losses during the TUF 9 finale at the Pearl at the Palm in Las Vegas.

Stevenson, the welterweight winner of TUF season two, suffered his second consecutive defeat last month at UFC 95 in London, England. Facing TUF 1 middleweight winner Diego Sanchez’s in what was Sanchez’s first-ever bout at 155 pounds, Stevenson lost a unanimous decision. The defeat dropped his record to 29-10 and served as his third loss in his last four fights.

Diaz was the lightweight winner from the fifth season of TUF and suffered his first-ever defeat in the Octagon during January’s UFC 94 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Diaz’s perfect 5-0 lifetime record in the UFC was spoiled by Clay Guida following Guida’s split decision victory over him. The loss reduced Diaz’s record to 10-3.

In addition to Diaz vs. Stevenson, the June 20 finale will also feature the lightweight and welterweight finals from the upcoming season of TUF as well as a welterweight matchup between Anthony Johnson and John Howard.

Joe Stevenson Interview:

Deigo Sanchez Interview:

“The London main event is Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson,” said White.

The interesting part about this match is that it will be Sanchez’s lightweight debut. After winning TUF at middleweight, Sanchez fought in the UFC at the welterweight limit. Now, Sanchez drops down another weight class to meet Stevenson. Stevenson also won TUF at a different weight class – welterweight, but he has recently fought at lightweight in the UFC.

Sherdog’s Greg Savage is reporting that former welterweight title contender Diego Sanchez has made a verbal commitment for his first-ever bout in the 155 pound division to come against Joe Stevenson.

Savage adds in his report that bout agreements have yet to be signed. However, if the matchup is finalized, it is expected that it would take place at UFC 95 on Feb. 21 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Sanchez, 19-2, won the middleweight championship during the first season of TUF after TKO’ing Kenny Florian at 2:49 of round 1. Following the win over Florian, the New Mexico native immediately dropped to welterweight, where he proceeded to go 5-0 until suffering back-to-back losses against Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch at UFCs 69 and 76, respectively.

Since suffering the first two losses of his career, Sanchez has rebounded to go 2-0 with wins over David Bielkheden at UFC 82 and Luigi Fioravanti during the live finale for the seventh season of TUF. However, Sanchez still made the decision last month to leave the welterweight division and make the cut to lightweight.

If the proposed bout with Stevenson becomes official, it would mean an ambitious lightweight debut for Sanchez. Stevenson became the welterweight winner for the second season of TUF after defeating Luke Cummo via unanimous decision during the show’s finale in November of 2005.

Stevenson, 29-9, dropped to lightweight following a unanimous decision loss to Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 4. He then went on to win his next four bouts while competing at 155 pounds and earned a chance to fight for the vacated UFC lightweight title last January at UFC 80. Facing former UFC welterweight champion B.J. Penn, the experienced Stevenson was still no match, being forced to submit at 4:02 of round 2 in a bloody encounter that saw the 26-year old bleed profusely from the head.

Stevenson rebounded with a second round submission victory over American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau at UFC 86 this past July but he was unable to maintain the momentum, as he suffered a first round submission defeat to Florian last month at UFC 91.

Our friends at MMAjunkie.com broke the news late yesterday.

UFC 91 will air live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena starting at 10 p.m. ET and will feature Randy Couture defending his UFC heavyweight title vs. 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

For Florian, he will essentially be defending a title shot he already earned following his a unanimous decision victory over Roger Huerta this past August at UFC 89. The win improved Florian’s streak to five consecutive victories since having suffered his last loss to Sean Sherk for the then-vacant lightweight title at UFC 64.

Stevenson is now in a position where he can expedite a second opportunity to vie for the lightweight title after having lost to B.J. Penn for the vacant belt as recently as UFC 80 this past January.

While bout agreements have yet to be signed, MMAWeekly.com reports that its sources have informed the site that both Florian and Stevenson have verbally agreed to the bout.

The proposed Florian vs. Stevenson matchup seems destined to be held on Nov. 15 during a yet-to-be announced UFC event expected to be titled “UFC 91” that will likely take place at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.

In addition to being top lightweight title contenders, both Florian and Stevenson are alumni of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series on Spike TV.

Florian competed as a middleweight during the first season of TUF and made it to the finals against tournament winner Diego Sanchez. Since losing to Sanchez, Florian has gone on to win eight of nine fights in the UFC and most recently defeated Roger Huerta via unanimous decision at UFC 87 on Aug, 9.

Stevenson won the welterweight tournament for the second season of TUF, defeating Luke Cummo in the finals via unanimous decision.  He has a lifetime record of 6-2 in the UFC and is 29-8 overall. At UFC 86 in July, Stevenson rebounded from a January loss against B.J. Penn for the then-vacant UFC lightweight title when he submitted American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau in the second round.

Harris was a former standout amateur wrestler who had recently transitioned to MMA when I first had heard about him. Despite not having a lot of experience, the IFL wanted to capitalize on his upside potential and brought him in as a middleweight competitor.

Competing for both Matt Lindland’s Team Quest and Pat Miletich’s Iowa Silverbacks, Harris put up an 0-2 record in ’07 against some top competition.

After his second IFL loss, Harris returned home and left his job as a high school teacher, feeling that in order to perform to the best of his ability that he would need to train full-time. Soon after making that decision, he was selected to be a part of the cast for the current season of TUF.

Going into the season, Harris was considered one of the leading favorites to win the show. As such, it was quite surprising to see him lose this past Wednesday against a lesser experienced fighter in Virginia’s Amir Sadollah. Adding to the surprise result was the fact that Harris had dominated Sadollah for much of the fight.

In spite of the heart-breaking defeat, Harris was more than willing to sit down recently with 5 Oz. of Pain and discuss the loss in detail, even going so far as to state his belief that the fight vs. Sadollah might have been stopped early.

Keep reading below to see the transcript of our conversation.

Sam Caplan: Let’s talk about the end of the fight vs. Amir Sadollah. Were you dazed by that knee, or were you out at any point from it?

Gerald Harris: It definitely dazed me for what I would say a little over one second. If you see, I am hit and I break away from the action for a split second but then I regain consciousness and shoot a single leg. So it was quick — I mean, it was kind of a good punch. Know what I’m saying? But it definitely was not a knockout because I was squeezing the hell out of his leg. It’s a bad position to be in, like Forrest (Griffin) said, it’s hard to finish a single leg on the ground with a guy swinging at you like that. There not too many things you can do but pull guard and I wasn’t about to pull guard, as I was trying to get my way around him. I didn’t take any punishment after that. He hit me in the ribs and the shoulder, but it was a bad place for the ref, like they said.

Sam Caplan: You just mentioned that you don’t feel like you took too much damage after the knee, do you feel it was an early stoppage?

Gerald Harris: I do, but (hesitates)… I don’t want to point the finger at the ref. I’ll point the finger at myself and say that I should have gotten knocked down. But I do think it was early because I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen guys get kicked in the head and lay down and get punched a couple of times and regain consciousness and get to fight. And I know it’s the ref’s job to keep us safe, but I wasn’t being hurt afterwards. If he kneed and I fell on my back and I got punched in the face a couple of times, I would not be complaining at all.

Sam Caplan: Up until the knee, you pretty much dominated that fight. Is there any feeling on your part that he got lucky with that knee that allowed him to rally?

Gerald Harris: No. And the reason why I can’t say he got lucky is because he does that knee in practice. It’s a game of chance. He took a risk and it paid off for him. It’s just me slamming someone and knocking them out. I wouldn’t call it luck because I work at it every day. It’s good that I know him out. Maybe I didn’t plan to. But I would call it luck. Luck would have been him coming across the ring and him diving at me with a knee or a punch — something untechnical. But that was something he drilled.

Sam Caplan: After you were eliminated against Amir Sadollah, you were understandably devastated. You even said at one point “That’s it.” Are you still committed to fighting?

Gerald Harris: Aw, hell yeah! I got right back in the gym as soon as I healed up. My thing right there was “This is how I feed my kids.” Know what I’m saying? Amir had just $10,000. I got zero. And I felt like the chance to be the next Ultimate Fighter had been taken away from me in ten seconds. That’s what was running through my mind, “How am I going to feed my kids?” And “What I am going to do about the UFC?” I wanted to be the next Ultimate Fighter — all the times I got up to run in the morning and all the sacrifices I made. I’m in this house for a certain amount of weeks and not even having any contact with my family. What am I getting out of it? Know what I mean?

So I was real devastated by the loss. Some guys, I wouldn’t say they didn’t care, but when they lost, it really wasn’t a big deal. They didn’t have a lot riding on it. And some of them probably didn’t even believe they were going to win the whole thing. I was 100 percent sure I was going to win the whole thing and at that moment I felt like it was all taken away.

Sam Caplan: Have you had contact with the UFC? Do they plan to keep you involved?

Gerald Harris: At this point right now I can’t say anything, because there are still second chances of getting back on the show. If someone gets injured then we get to pick who gets to take their place, in the quarters and the semis. So that’s still up in the air, so I can’t really speak on that part. That’s pretty much all I can say about that.

Sam Caplan: Prior to your involvement with TUF, you had previously fought for the IFL. What was that experience like?

Gerald Harris: That was a good (experience). That was a learning experience. My first fight, I definitely feel like I won and that it was taken away from me. But the second fight, I learned that I needed to do this full-time. I lost and I was training very hard, but I was still teaching at the same time. After I lost that fight, I quit my job and moved to Oregon and started training full-time with Team Quest.

Sam Caplan: Based on the notoriety you received via the IFL, did the UFC approach you about TUF or did you contact the UFC?

Gerald Harris: I actually didn’t think that I was going to make it onto the show because I had fought in the IFL and I heard that Dana (White) is not too happy with the IFL, and the idea of it. But I only did two fill-in bouts. I needed money so I had to go fight and go kick some butt. At the time, I thought that was big, because I wasn’t thinking about the UFC back then since I was in my first year of fighting.

Once I found out about the show, I was training at Team Quest with people like Ed Herman and other guys. Matt Lindland made a few phone calls and gave me a recommendation. I sent my video in and the video helped out a lot; me slamming people, and stuff. It was kind of a chain reaction with everything. And then I did real well in my interviews.

Sam Caplan: Are you still with Team Quest?

Gerald Harris: Yeah, I am with Team Quest. I am actually not there right now because I am back in Oklahoma with my family. But I’ve got good training back home. I’m actually on my way to Ohio right now to train with some people. I’m bouncing around right now but I am with Team Quest. That’s my team.

Sam Caplan: During the trailers to promote the show before the season, the fact that you’re also a standup comedian was also brought up. How often do you perform standup?

Gerald Harris: Actually, I took some time off when I started fighting. I stopped doing it just to focus (on fighting). But on-stage is different than fighting. I can actually walk up onto a stage right now and do a 30 minute to an hour set. It’s not like fighting. I’ve got it drilled into my head. I can always do standup, so if I get some opportunities or phone calls, I will definitely go do some shows. But my time right now is dedicated to MMA.

Sam Caplan: How did you get started with standup?

Gerald Harris: Aw man, I’ve been a class clown since I was a little kid. My first year in college, we went to a comedy club on amateur night, and they sucked. And my friends were like, “Dude, you need to go up there.” And I signed up the next week and just killed. We were only supposed to do five minutes, but I did about 20. I was just talking, man. I had no routine. Just raw; just talking.

They booked me every week after that and even offered me a job as a host but I had to go back to college. Once I got back to college, I started doing in Ohio and started booking my own shows. It paid off for me real well. I love comedy.

Sam Caplan: Do you think comedy is something you’ll get back into?

Gerald Harris: I like what Joe Rogan does. I’d love to perform with Joe Rogan. I’d love to be in movies. Whatever. But I kind of stay away from that stuff because I want to focus on MMA. But I love comedy and acting.

Sam Caplan: Who do you consider to be the best standup comics around right now?

Gerald Harris: Damn. That’s a good one. There’s a couple.

Sam Caplan: Just give me your top three.

Gerald Harris: In the past? Or can we just go with current?

Sam Caplan: Whatever you prefer. You can go with both, if you want.

Gerald Harris: Well, I definitely like Chris Rock. That’s an obvious one. Lisa Lampanelli is funny as hell. And there’s one more. What is his name? I can think of it. Let me just stick with those two. There’s too many names. I could go on and on. But my favorite actor is Jamie Foxx… and Will Smith. I look up to those two.

Sam Caplan: Is there a standup comic out there who got really famous that you just think is overrated?

Gerald Harris: No, I mean, I’ve seen some people that I thought weren’t that funny, but I understand the hustle. I understand the grind. There’s more to it than just their ten minutes up on stage. I didn’t see all the times they got booed off the stage, or how many meetings they went to. I don’t really judge them by that. If you make it, I’m proud for you.

Sam: What’s next for Gerald Harris?

Gerald Harris: I don’t know man, the sky’s the limit. You know what? I am only getting better. That’s the thing people don’t know; I’ve only been fighting for about a year and half, and I’m only getting better, man. My goal right now is to improve and every time people see me, they’re like “Wow, look at him now.” I’m still sticking with the slams but working on these hands and working on knocking some people out (laughs). We’ll see what happens. But I think people want to see more of me. That’s the one thing I received from a lot of fans, that they want to see me fight again. That’s a blessing for people to want to see me fight.

Former IFL fighter Gerald Harris is one of the 32 men picked for next season’s Ultimate Fighter reality show. He’s a damn good wrestler. (thanks to Anthony Sullivan)

Harris is 6-2 overall in MMA and was 0-2 during his brief stint in the IFL. He last competed for the promotion during its semifinals on August 2 in East Rutherford, NJ. Harris served as the designated middleweight for Pat Miletich’s Silverbacks and was TKO’d against Benji Radach at just 3:03 into round 1.

Since leaving the IFL, Harris has competed once for Fight Time Promotions, which is based out of Oklahoma. Harris recorded a first round TKO over Jeremija Sanders in November during his lone appearance for the promotion.

Click here for additional information (including cast spoilers) on the upcoming season of TUF 7 from Five Ounces of Pain!

There’s been a lot of speculation that Stevenson earned himself a match with B.J. Penn at UFC 78 in Newark, NJ on November 17 with the win. However, the UFC has yet to announce any plans for such a match. If they are considering putting it together, there’s no word on how Stevenson’s broken jaw would affect the matchup.

If a match between Stevenson and Penn is booked, it could be for the UFC lightweight title. The UFC has no plans to strip Sean Sherk of the title until his appeal hearing takes place before the California State Athletic Commission in October but UFC president Dana White has said that he’ll be stripped of the title if the suspension is upheld.

If Stevenson is healthy, one workaround to the situation would be to book the match between the two and add the title stipulation to it later if Sherk’s suspension is upheld. For the record, CSAC has never overturned a suspension so Sherk’s odds of retaining the title past October are unlikely, unless he files for another continuance.

As of now, UFC 78 is without a main event match. It remains to be seen if Stevenson vs. Penn would be received as a main event by the New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia audience. It’s been a long time since there’s been a UFC event in the Northeastern corridor and fans in the area might be expecting more than a potential main event between the two.

There really doesn’t seem to be a lot of obvious candidates to headline the card. Andrei Arlovski has just one fight left under his UFC contract and it is believed that the UFC is delaying the scheduling of the last match of his contract because other promotions will have strong interest in him.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is not booked for a fight but outside of Arlovski, all the top heavyweights are booked for the near future.

There’s always the rematch between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. It had been thought that the two would fight at UFC 77 on October 20 in Cincinnati but a bout agreement has yet to be signed. Ortiz is waiting until his back feels better before committing to a match but he has also made it known that he’d like the match to happen in Vegas.

As of now, the next UFC pay-per-view in Vegas is not scheduled until Dec. 29. Ortiz might be fighting a losing battle in trying to get booked for that show because it’s believed that Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes will be one of the headline matches with the long-awaited match between Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell possibly being the other, assuming Liddell defeats Keith Jardine at UFC 76 on September 22 in Anaheim, Calif. Having Liddell, Hughes, Silva, and Ortiz all on the same card might be a little too expensive plus it would take away from the strength of cards held right before or just after the December event.

Ortiz’s public comments about fighting in Vegas are very interesting. Under his current contract he gets a bonus for the amount of PPVs sold for any card he’s on. Is he trying to make a slick business move and trying to get on a card that could potentially set record PPV buys for a UFC show?

McGivern’s replacement is former collegiate wrestler Gerald Harris, who previously competed in the IFL for Matt Lindland’s Portland Wolfpack.

The move is interesting because Harris trains full-time with Team Quest. In the past when there’s been an injury to the Silverbacks, Miletich has brought in his own fighters such as Josh Neer and Sam Hoeger.

The site does not make it clear whether McGivern will be out due to injury.

Middleweight Kaz Hamanaka has also been ruled out of the semifinals for the Tokyo Sabers. Dave Phillips has been chosen to fight in place of Hamanaka by head coach Ken Yasuda. I’m not too familiar with Phillips, but in watching Hamanaka compete this past season I can say that he was a weak area on the team.

It had been previously announced that lightweight fighter Chris Horodecki would be unable to compete for the LA Anacondas.

The semifinal matchups include the Anacondas vs. the Silverbacks and the Sabers vs. Renzo Gracie’s New York Dragons.