FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news early Thursday morning with Hendricks’ agent, Ken Pavia of MMA Agents.

“By mutual decree, we decided it was best for Josh to get additional fights outside of the UFC,” Pavia informed Five Ounces of Pain during an interview. “Fighting in front of 15,000 people was overwhelming. As much as we tried to prepare Josh, there was nothing we could do to replicate it. Josh will get bigger and stronger and learn from the experience.”

Hendricks, who is 15-5 in 20 professional fights, landed a UFC contract after putting together a streak of 10 consecutive fights without sustaining a loss.

A talented wrestler in college, the 32-year old was a part of Randy Couture’s training camp in anticipation of Couture’s heavyweight title defense against Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 this past weekend.

The UFC currently has over 180 fighters on its roster and is expected to attempt to reduce its roster to 140 over the course of the next several months. Hendricks joins Fabricio Werdum, Paulo Filho, Marcus Aurelio, Jason Lambert, Jon Fitch, and Christian Wellisch as fighters to have been released by Zuffa in recent weeks.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com first learned of the matchup early Tuesday morning from a source speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Gonzaga ended a two fight losing streak at UFC 86 on July 5 when he submitted Justin McCully with a Kimura at 1:57 of round 1. Prior to the victory he had lost a UFC heavyweight title fight against Randy Couture at UFC 74 last August and then had lost a rematch to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80 this past January.

Hendricks is based out of Ohio and has a record of 14-4 with one no contest. He hasn’t lost in his last ten fights with his most recent victory coming against James Powell via knockout at 3:35 of round 1 during a Legends of Fighting event this past November. He also fought and lost against former UFC veterans Sam Hoger and Travis Wiuff earlier in his career.

The only match officially announced for UFC 91 thus far is a lightweight encounter between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson. FiveOuncesOfPain.com was also the first to report over the weekend that season seven winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Amir Sadollah announced at Combat Sports Challenge 26 on Saturday that he expects to fight on the show as well.

“The Phenom” Vitor Belfort is at Xtreme Couture training for his upcoming bout at Affliction: Banned. Vitor will be taking on Terry Martin in his debut at 185lbs. Vitor has spent most of his career fighting at 205lbs which is about what he normally weighs. Meaning he was going in the cage and ring against opponents 10-15 pounds heavier than him at fight time. He says he feels faster and lighter at 185 and is looking to make an immediate impact on the division.

I found this piece of news interesting as I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Belfort actually has nightmares about Randy Couture. The first beating Couture gave to Belfort is something I don’t think he ever fully recovered from mentally and the third fight between the two was another psychological beatdown of epic proportions.

But I guess training with the guy that dished that type of punishment out to you is a way for you to gain some form of confidence back and who knows, with tips from Couture and a new weight class for Belfort to begin anew in, maybe we’ll see the destructive Belfort of old?

I know, I’m a sucker for punishment.

Read more Vitor Belfort content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Update: FiveOuncesOfPain.com spoke with Keith Kizer, the Executive Director for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, earlier this afternoon. According to Mr. Kizer, Belfort’s suspension ended in July of last year, increasing the possibility he will get licensed in California. However, Mr. Kizer indicated that Belfort has not yet satisfied the required $10,000 fine that was imposed at the time of his suspension. There are plans to notify the California State Athletic Commission that the fine has not yet been paid. Also, Mr. Kizer indicated that Belfort’s decision to compete in the UK for Cage Rage even though he was still under suspension by NSAC is only likely to affect him if he applies for license again in Nevada.

Affliction: Banned is quickly becoming MMA’s version of Woodstock.

As if the July 19 card wasn’t already stacked enough, the promotion’s website is indicating that a middleweight bout between former UFC fighters Vitor Belfort and Terry Martin has been added to the card.

According to the Affliction website, the Belfort vs. Martin bout is not guaranteed to be broadcast.

The 31-year old Belfort has not competed in the U.S. since losing to Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32 in October of 2006. After the bout, Belfort tested positive for a banned performance enhancing drug.

Belfort, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, ignored a suspension imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and went to the UK to compete for the Cage Rage promotion, where he compiled a 2-0 record.

There has been no public report that has indicated Belfort has satisfied his suspension with NSAC. It remains to be seen whether the California State Athletic Commission would ignore NSAC’s suspension, assuming a deal has not been reached to reinstate Belfort.

Following two consecutive losses in the UFC, Martin tried his hand at professional boxing. There have been conflicting reports in regards to Martin’s status and whether he was on hiatus from the UFC or had been released. However, it is pretty apparent that he no longer has a valid contract with the UFC based on his involvement with the Affliction show.

Martin is also scheduled to appear on Monte Cox’s Adrenaline MMA show scheduled for this Saturday at the Sears Center in Chicago.

“Today I have no exclusivity with anyone. I am the same as Fedor, I do not have exclusivity. I am the champion of Cage Rage and have one more belt defense to do. I am waiting because of the surgery, but in February I will be ready. We are studying many proposals. M-1 contacted me to fight there, there is an event in , an event in , the government of Amazonas, there´s no lack of money there, and they want me to fight there. In December I am going to to make some meetings with Ultimate also. I want to return to UFC”, said Vitor, that explained the break-up with his former employer, Jorge Guimarães “Joinha”.

I don’t see a return to the UFC as very likely for Belfort. He is a shell of his former self as a fighter and hasn’t beaten anyone of note since 2003. He is a good fit as a big name for a smaller organization, but he is no longer UFC material.

Belfort said his “big wish” is to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson but also stated he has a proposal on the table to fight Robbie Lawler for the EliteXC middleweight title:

“EliteXC that´s buying all the events, made a proposal for me to go to a lower category to face Robbie Lawler and fight for the big belt. Me and Spike, we are taking a careful look at this proposal of lowering my weight, getting this belt from Robbie Lawler…”

The interview has led to several Internet rumors that Lawler vs. Belfort could be the main event of EliteXC’s next scheduled card in November. However, the promotion currently has no plans to book that match for its next card. In fact, Lawler is expected to defend his Icon Sport middleweight title in December against Ross “Kala Kolohe” Hose.

Any future matchup between Lawler vs. Belfort could prove difficult to make happen. First, Belfort has competed as a heavyweight and light heavyweight through his ten-year MMA career. It’s not a given that Belfort can make 185 lbs. at this stage of his career.

Complicating matters further is the fact that Belfort was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after testing positive for steroids following his unanimous decision loss against Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32 last October.

If Belfort could make the cut, a match against Lawler could take place in the UK or another portion of the world where MMA is not regulated. However, EliteXC could hurt its standing with NSAC by not honoring its suspension of Belfort. Even after Belfort’s suspension elapses, there’s no guarantee he’ll be reinstated because he did not honor his suspension when he elected to fight for Cage Rage.