Today the UFC confirmed on their website that Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, and Karo Parisyan will all be making their return to the Octagon at UFC 88 in Atlanta, GA on September 6. The card is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans with the winner likely being very close to a title shot.

Dan Henderson, coming off a loss to Anderson Silva in March, will be stepping back into the cage against one of the UFC’s most highly touted international talents, Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares. Henderson will be looking for his first victory inside the UFC since coming over after the collapse PRIDE. Toquinho recently steamrolled Ivan Salaverry in his UFC debut with a very slick armbar.

Rich Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champion, will be facing off against fellow Cincinnati fighter Matt Hamill in a battle at light heavyweight. Franklin is coming off a victory over Travis Lutter at UFC 83 and will be fighting at light heavyweight for the first time since he fought Ken Shamrock at the first ever Ultimate Fighter Finale. Matt Hamill recently beat Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 13 in April and will be looking to make it two in a row since his loss to Michael Bisping last year.

Karo Parisyan will be looking to prove to the world that he’s still top shelf in the UFC’s most talented division when he takes on one of the best Japanese stars that the UFC has signed in recent months, Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Parisyan is coming off a knockout loss to Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 13, a fight that would have catapulted him into title contention should he have won. Yoshida recently made his UFC debut, throttling Jon Koppenhaver at UFC 84 in the opening moments of round one.

These three fights are an excellent addition to the card and it looks like UFC 88, even without a title fight, is shaping up to be one of the better events all year.

Sherdog has a great piece up detailing some of the things that were said at the DREAM 3 post-fight press conference. Namely, Nick Diaz said he would rather be fighting Shinya Aoki next instead of Hayato Sakurai and Jason “Mayhem” Miller said that he would love a shot at his hero, Kazushi Sakuraba.

Nick Diaz on Aoki:

“You know, there’s a lot of other people I’d like to fight, just considering Mach Sakurai is a lot older than I am,” Diaz said. “He’s probably in his late 30s I’d imagine, so I’m going to have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s done. I tend to do better with people I have less respect for. To be honest, I’d rather be fighting Shinya Aoki or Kawajiri — somebody other than the guy that got knocked out by someone I already beat [Gomi].

“I know the only way to win is not care to win or lose,” he said. “That’s why I’m not afraid of anybody and why I want to fight the best. I think Shinya Aoki is the best fighter here. I want to fight this guy — I think I can beat him.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller on Sakuraba:

“My biggest dream ever was to fight Sakuraba,” Miller said. “He was my hero growing up. I’m lucky that in my business, I’m allowed to beat my heroes up in the same way I beat my dad up now.

“Sakuraba is my hero, and the prospect of being able to fight my hero is huge. It’s my dream, and hopefully I can accomplish my dream here. I’m happy that we’re in the tournament at the same time. No matter who they put in front of me, I want to defeat them in the most exciting manner possible. I’ve never seen Sakuraba tap out.”

Some deflating upsets marked this morning’s Shooto Tradition card from Tokyo.

In one bout, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai looked to be getting the better of David Baron on the feet but those tides turned quickly near the end of round one. Baron came out looking for a ground battle but became more confident as the minutes passed by. As the men were clinched and looking for a takedown, Baron tripped Sakurai leading Mach to quickly stand and come toward Baron. Baron hooked in a guillotine and pulled guard, forcing a reluctant Sakurai to tap out after about ten seconds in the position. This obviously improves Baron’s name and standing in Japan and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in DREAM sooner rather than later. You can view the fight here.

In another bout, Class B-rated fighter Savant Young (in Shooto class B fighters get two five minute rounds while class A fighters get three rounds) pulled an upset of upsets defeating Takeshi Inoue by decision. Lion was rated by many to be the top featherweight in the world, a distinction now to be fought out between Kid Yamamoto and Urijah Faber.

The rumored card for UFC 78 on Nov. 17 in Newark, NJ has been posted several times on FiveOuncesOfPain.com and thus far the responses haven’t been all that positive. But I need to speak up because I beg to differ; while the rumored card currently lacks star power, it’s still a strong card nonetheless.

The match with the most appeal to me is Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar. Both have already participated in match of the year candidates (Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 and Fisher vs. Sam Stout at UFC Fight Night 10) and because their styles could mesh well, you have the potential for another match of the year candidate for both fighters.

It appears talks between Hayato Sakurai and the UFC have broken down as Sakurai is scheduled to fight in Japan but the UFC has found a suitable opponent for Karo Parisyan in Hector Lombard. Lombard, who represented Cuba in the Olympics in Judo, is 11-2-1 in MMA and has competed for promotions such as PRIDE and DEEP.

By putting Parisyan vs. Lombard, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva is throwing two world class Judokas together in a match that will be extremely competitive. Parisyan, who is a tad small for welterweight will be facing a fighter in Lombard who has competed at times as a middleweight. Will Karo be able to rag doll Lombard like he has so many of his other opponents? It will be interesting to find out.

Thiago Alves vs. Ryo Chonan is yet another strong matchup that’s been rumored for the card. If the UFC welterweight division wasn’t so backlogged then the bout’s outcome would have greater implications. However, who really needs implications? Just sit back and watch what looks to be another potential strong match.

Lombard and Chonan aren’t the only former PRIDE fighters that will be making their UFC debuts, as Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory is expected to take place. While the match might not be televised, fans attending live could be in store for a surprise. Gono, 27-12-7, will be a tough test for the undefeated 20-year old.

Other rumored matches that could take place during the non-televised portion are Ed Herman vs. David Terrell and Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt. Lauzon is originally from Massachusetts so expect strong crowd support for him while Terrell vs. Herman is a match I can’t wait to see. The middleweight division in the UFC could use a shot to the arm and Terrell could be what the doctor ordered.

One of only two people to ever be promoted as a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie, Terrell looked like a future star following his 24 second first round knockout over Matt Lindland at UFC 49 in 2004. Unfortunately, he’s been besieged by injuries and has fought just twice in the last three years. I’m looking forward to attending the show live and seeing first hand if Terrell is someone who can make an impact under the UFC’s current middleweight landscape.

If you’re one of the people who has chosen to use “sucks” as a way to describe the rumored lineup then I suggest you go to Netflix and start renting old PRIDE DVDs so that you can become more familiar with Lombard, Chonan, and Gono as well as some old UFC DVDs (i.e. UFC 49) to either introduce or re-introduce yourself to Terrell.

In regard to the lack of star power, have a little faith in Dana White and Silva. Tickets for UFC 78 go on sale to the general public this Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. The UFC wants to do well from a business perspective and it behooves them to deliver a solid main event. Rumors persist that we could see a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans but if Ortiz is playing hardball or his back is still not ready, then the UFC will come up with something else. Rumors about a match between Ortiz and Dan Henderson have been debunked but it appears as though the idea was at least explored. If Ortiz can’t be secured and Henderson is ready to go, then why not a match between Henderson and Evans?

On paper, UFC 78 might end up not having a lot of sex appeal but didn’t we learned from UFC 73 and UFC Fight Night 10 this year? It’s all about matchups and UFC 73 taught us that just because you have a bunch of big names all on a card, it doesn’t mean you’re going to see good matches if the fighters’ respective styles don’t mesh well. Meanwhile, UFN 10 showed us not to underestimate a card just because it doesn’t have a big name.

So please, leave UFC 78 alone!

The Fight Network is reporting that DEEP veteran Ryo Chonan could be in the mix for the UFC’s UFC 78 card in Newark, NJ this November. No official announcement has been made.

TFN is also reporting that Karo Parisyan has confirmed that the UFC is in negotiations for him to fight either Hector Lombard or Hayato Sakurai at UFC 78.

It appears there is some news coming out of last night’s post-UFC 73 press conference. UFC president Dana White apparently said that a rematch between Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz is in the cards. both fighters campaigned for it. Also, Ortiz claimed afterwards that he injured his back two weeks ago while training for the fight. Gee, Tito claiming injury after a fight? Wow, that’s so unlike him.

There’s also a lot of talk about matchups between B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the lightweight title and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko Cro Cop (if he beats Cheick Kongo at UFC 75) in November.

White also is believed to have confirmed that Anderson Silva’s next title defense will be against Rich Franklin in Cincinnati on October 20.

When asked about the future of Pride, White commented that in order for the promotion to continue they must secure television deals in Japan and or the U.S. In the meantime, Zuffa will continue to try and sign Pride fighters for the UFC and the WEC. Some of you may have noticed that Hayato Sakurai was shown sitting cageside. It’s unknown if he’s officially signed but when would assume so. Whether he fights in the UFC or WEC is currently unknown but White did say on The Scott Ferrall Show on Saturday that a lot of the fighters in the lighter weight classes from Japan will be featured in the WEC.

I didn’t hear it firsthand, but there are multiple accounts claiming that Frank Trigg said on TAGG Radio yesterday that he’s spoken with people for Hayato Sakurai who claim that Sakurai has not been contacted by Zuffa to fight for either the UFC or Pride. According to Trigg, he’s been told that no one has talked to Sakurai about a fight against Diego Sanchez.

A local station in Diego Sanchez’s hometown reported earlier this week that according to his camp, his next fight will be at UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai.

I didn’t post the rumor immediately because I wasn’t sure how credible it was. However, MMAWeekly.com now lists Sanchez vs. Sakurai on the UFC 74 fight card in their “rumors” section. While not official, MMAWeekly.com’s decision to add the match is a step up from just a message forum post.

Sakurai has fought in Pride for the past several years and is ranked as MMAWeekly.com’s number two lightweight in the World. He fought at 161 pounds for Pride so it appears for now, if the rumors are true, that he’ll be moving up to 170 as opposed to cutting to 155.

If Sakurai fights at UFC 74, it will actually be the second time he’s fought in the UFC. He last fought for the UFC in 2002, losing at Matt Hughes at UFC 36 in the “Worlds Collide” PPV.

Sakurai holds wins over Frank Trigg, Joachim Hansen, and Jens Pulver.