UFC has officially pulled the fight from the official fight card.

One of the most decorated featherweight fighters in the sports history, “Kid” has fallen on hard time recently, losing three of his last four contests. He made his UFC debut earlier this year at UFC 125, losing a unanimous decision to upcoming bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson. Yamamoto has a long history of injuries, which has hindered his career progress. He was out of action for all of 2008 with a devastating knee injury, that he’s never seemed to fully recover from.

“The Angel of Death” hasn’t had much luck staying healthy either. Sidelined for nearly a year with various injuries, Page returned to action in November 2010 where he to lost the previously mentioned Johnson by way of guillotine choke. Page recently fell victim to another guillotine choke at the hands and arms of Brian Bowles at UFC on Versus 4. Prior to the two fight skid, Page had won seven of eight bouts, including victories over Scott Jorgensen, Marcos Galvão, and Will Campuzano.

UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage is scheduled for September 24 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The night will culminate with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defending his belt against former champ Quinton Jackson. Also on the card is a welterweight clash between UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes and Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Diego Sanchez.

Word of their probable pairing was announced through the UFC’s website where it mentioned verbal agreements were already in place.

Yamamoto made his Octagon debut in February at UFC 126 in a losing effort against divisional dynamo Demetrious Johnson after having scored an opening round knockout in his previous bout at a DREAM event. He holds an overall record of 18-4 with thirteen TKOs but has struggled over the past few years since enduring a series of injuries making a potential win over Page that much more crucial.

The 15-6 “Angel of Death” has also dealt with his share of defeat in the ring as of late with losses in his last two fights but had emerged victorious in seven of eight appearances prior. Page holds past wins over Marcos Galvao, Will Campuzano, and Scott Jorgensen.

Page and Yamamoto join a UFC 135 lineup already featuring welterweight legend Matt Hughes in action against original Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Sanchez in addition to all signs pointing at Jon Jones’ initial title-defense taking place on the show with former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson standing in his way of success.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of Yamamoto’s situation was announced on the UFC’s website where the company also shed light on his replacement in a bout scheduled to take place next over Memorial Day Weekend at UFC 130.

According to the official statement, 20-year old Michael McDonald is set to step in for Yamamoto against Chris Cariaso at the May 28 event in hopes of improving his record to 12-1. McDonald last fought at UFN 24 a month ago where he took part in a “Fight of the Night” match-up with Edwin Figueroa. The outpointing of Figueroa marked his fifth consecutive instance of having his hands raised, though the first decision of McDonald’s career with eleven finishing performances in the previous victories.

Cariaso is also 1-0 in the UFC after crossing over from WEC. He is 11-2 overall with five successful showings in his last six bouts and the bulk of his wins coming as the result of his grappling ability.

UFC 130 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and features a number of notable match-ups including a title-fight between lightweight champ Frank Edgar and rival Gray Maynard, as well as former 205-pound champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson taking on always-tough Matt Hamill, ever-improving middleweight Brian Stann against the returning Jorge Santiago, and submission specialist Frank Mir mixing it up with TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Yamamoto earned his reputation as one of the sport’s more-exciting fighters in organizations like K-1 and Shooto with slick grappling and sleep-inducing stand-up. He holds notable past wins over Caol Uno, Genki Sudo, Bibiano Fernandes, Jeff Curran, and Rani Yahya. However, though “Kid” started his career off on a 17-1 run he has since gone 1-2 with dual decision losses after an eighteen month break from competition due to injury. His last in-ring appearance resulted in a first-round knockout of Federico Lopez at DREAM 14 this past May.

His opponent, Johnson, is coming off back-to-back wins in WEC and has an overall record of 7-1. Six of his victories have been the result of a finishing performance including a submission of Damacio Page in November at WEC 52.

According to Dana White via Twitter, the UFC has finalized a deal with 145-pound superstar Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. Yamamoto has dropped two of his last three bouts since returning from a year-and-a-half absence but was 17-1 prior to a break from action occurring between late 2007 to mid 2009.

According to a report from MMAJunkie, it appears Yamamoto may debut as early as February at UFC 126 against 7-1 WEC veteran Demetrious Johnson. Neither fighter has been legitimately finished so it appears more will be on the line come February 5 than a W/L record.

Yamamoto is 18-3 in his career with thirteen wins by way of TKO. He holds notable victories in the past over the likes of Genki Sudo, Bibiano Fernandes, Jeff Curran, and Royler Gracie.

If “Kid” joins the UFC 126 line-up he will compete alongside a number of former UFC champions as well as a current title-holder. The event, scheduled for Super Bowl Weekend, is currently slated to feature middleweight champ Anderson Silva defending his belt against Vitor Belfort, as well as a bout between Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin in addition to a match-up between rising 205-pound stars Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

The pair will butt heads on in the second round of Dream‘s featherweight grand prix May 26 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Fourteen straight wins over the last six years over some of the best competition the sport has to offer has cemented Yamamoto’s place as one of the pound for pound best smaller fighters in the business. Jeff Curran, Royler Gracie, Caol Uno, and Genki Sudo have all felt the wrath of Yamamoto during the course of their respective careers, with the latter three being beaten sideways by the explosive thirty two year old.

In a weight class that it is undisputedly harder to knock your foe out, Yamamoto has established himself as one of the lighter weight classes premier finishers, knocking out twelve of the seventeen men he holds victories over.

As previously noted, Warren is an outstanding wrestler. His background combined with the fact that he managed to stop a fighter as durable and seasoned as Chase Beebe in his professional debut at Dream 7 make Warren one of the top featherweights to watch in the sport.

Daiki Hata has been forced to withdrawal from his tournament bout due to an eye injury and will be replaced with the man he beat in the first round of the tournament, Hideo Tokoro.

A full list of the 139 pound tournament bouts set for May 26th are listed below.

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro

Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou – rumored but yet to be announced
Gesias “JZ” Cavalvante vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri – rumored but yet to be announced

Also rumored to make appearances in the event are Paulo Filho and Ronaldo Jacare.

The fights will be contested at 139 pounds as opposed to 145 pounds, which is the recognized weight limit for featherweight under the unified rules of MMA.

World renowned Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has been granted a bye into the second round in hopes that he will have recovered from a previous injury. The Grand Prix’s second round of the is scheduled to take place in May at Dream.9.

Yamamoto, who is 17-1 and is riding amazing 14 fight win streak has been battling various injuries for some time now, hasn’t been at full strength since defeating Rani Yahya at a K-1 “Dynamite!!” show in December of 2007.

The former K-1 HERO’s star had been scheduled to make his debut with the DREAM organization against Joseph Benavidez at Dream.5 last July before being forced to withdraw just three days before the fight.

At the time, it was reported that Yamamoto had suffered a partial tear of his anterior ligament in his knee while attempting a flying knee in practice. He has been on the sidelines ever since.

Another fighter scheduled for the Grand Prix that is on the injured list is Pancrase veteran Daika Hata. Hata received an eye injury but will face Hideo Tokoro in the opening round of the Grand Prix at Dream.8.

Here is the complete list of participants for the first round of the DREAM featherweight grand prix:

Dream.7 -

• Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1) vs. Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1)
• Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won Kim (0-0)
• Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2) vs. Micah Miller (10-2)
• Chase Beebe (11-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)
• Bibiano Fernandes (3-2) vs. Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1)
• Abel Cullum (13-2) vs. Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1)

Dream.8 -

• Daika Hata (9-5-3) vs. Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1)

HDNET will be broadcasting both events live in North America.

While I have issues at times with how ESPN covers sports, seeing MMA get covered by the Worldwide Leader in an extended format was very refreshing. That said, lke anything else pertaining to MMA on TV, I still see some areas for improvement.

Here’s my breakdown of my likes for the show and areas I think could use some improvement.

LIKES:

* The pacing and production - This show moved fast. It was in and out. I definitely like the half-hour format as opposed to one that is longer. I definitely enjoy listening to people talk about fighting, but there is a certain point where it becomes overkill. Overall, the editing and formatting of the show was clean and tight.

* UFC footage - This is really a coup. For reasons that I still do not understand to this day, the UFC will not allow HDNet to have any of its footage. Considering the likelihood that Mark Cuban will never do an independent HDNet Fights fight promotion again and is purely making a content play at this point, why wouldn’t you allow HDNet to promote your product on “Inside MMA”? While its due to no fault of their own, not having that footage hurts and that became more apparent to me than ever while watching “MMA Live.” I’m not sure how they did it, and maybe it’s simply because they are the Worldwide Leader, but ESPN managed to get permission to use UFC footage and still cover MMA like a sport.

But I really had a problem with a story that Adam Swift of MMAPayout.com reported earlier this week regarding the UFC’s initial demand that “MMA Live” be exclusive to covering the UFC. According to Swift, a compromise was worked out in that Kenny Florian will be hosting the shows initially. But just the idea that the UFC is in a position to make demands like that is a concern. It’s almost as if they can hold a show hostage because the quality of the program isn’t there if the UFC footage is not available.

* MMA for Dummies - This is a great way to educate fans. Florian is perfect for this. I took a seminar of his once and he really knows how to explain the application of holds. Not just that, but he makes it a point to explain the theory behind the hold so that you are better apt to being able to apply the hold in different situations. The segment reminded me of what Marc Laimon used to do on the UFC pay-per-views, something I’d love for them to bring back because there are still a lot of fans that are clueless about the ground. The more they are educated, the less likely they will be to boo when a fight hits the mat.

* The Tapout - I like what this feature could become. Getting the fast-pace talking points is great, I would just like to see more interplay between Florian and Franklin McNeil. I don’t need to see them engage in contrive debates like Woody Paige and Skip Bayless used to do on “1st and Ten,” but the more banter, the better. I’ll get into this a little more, but I like the concept of the segment and would like to see an MMA version of “Fact or Fiction.”

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:

* Franklin McNeil’s comfort zone - People think talking on TV and on the radio is easy. Well, while it’s not rocket science, there is a lot more involved than a lot of people realize. The number one obstacle is adrenaline, which is something you typically don’t have to deal with when you’re just having random conversations with people. But shove a microphone in your face, and that changes everything. It’s not always easy to be concise when someone asks you a question and you’ve got 2-3 different answers popping into your head. He just needs to pick a direction and run that way. Once McNeil gets a few shows under his belt, he should be able to articulate his points better.

* The degree of interplay between hosts - Florian, McNeil, and John Anik haven’t worked together before. In those situations, it’s hard to press buttons with someone you don’t really know. Hopefully the trio will develop a rapport and take some liberties with each other. I wouldn’t mind seeing Florian and McNeil challenging each other on some of their opinions. Then again, does ESPN really need another show with two guys yelling back and forth with each other? Certainly not, but spirited debate never hurt anyone.

* Fighter interviews – It was the first episode and I understand the desire to play it close to the vest. Hopefully, the show’s format will open up a bit and they will incorporate some guests via satellite, assuming they have the budget for such a thing. But when they were talking about Affliction, it would have been great to see them cut to Josh Barnett or another fighter affiliated with the card to get their take.

* Exclusive news - The show does a great job of analyzing events that have already occurred. However, a missing element from the first show is something that is a hallmark on most of the ESPN studio shows: breaking news. Baseball Tonight has Peter Gammons and Buster Olney. NFL Live has Chris Mortensen and John Clayton. Their NBA coverage has… okay, I guess Stephen A. Smith really isn’t an “insider,” but hopefully you get my point about their baseball and football shows. I’d really like to see the show add an “MMA Insider” that can break some stories and make you feel like you need to watch the show each week.

While talking with Adam Morgan, he made the point that he’d love to see this show on ESPN or ESPN II. I couldn’t agree more. I think a Wednesday night time slot at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN II would be ideal, because people could watch “The Ultimate Fighter” and then tune right in to “MMA Live.” I know they are operated by different networks, but if its a true MMA news show, getting the eliminated fighter from TUF on for an exclusive interview might be a unique selling point to viewers.