UFC 99 is scheduled for June 13 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

This will mark Cro Cop’s first return to MMA since stopping Korean goliath Hong Man Choi at K-1 Dynamite which was held on New Years Eve 2008. His previous time spent with the UFC was widely seen as a huge disappointment following an Octagon record of 1-2.

Al-Turk will be looking to bounce back fro a TKO stoppage loss suffered to Cheick Kongo at UFC 92.

A complete list of the bouts scheduled for UFC 99 are listed below:

Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders
Dan Hardy vs. Marcus Davis
Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo
Spencer Fisher vs. Caol Uno
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Mustapha al Turk
Terry Etim vs. Justin Buchholz
Stefan Struve vs. Denis Stojnic
Dale Hartt vs. Dennis Siver
Paul Taylor vs. Peter Sobotta
Paul Kelly vs. Roli Delgado
John Hathaway vs. Ricky Story

The news was first reported by the Brazilian website, Intheguard.tv, which is citing sources close to Duffee’s camp.

The undefeated Duffee is looking to make an immediate impact in the UFC after signing a four-fight contract with the company earlier this month. Duffee is currently 4-0 in his MMA career, earning all four victories via KO. His last win came against UFC veteran Assuerio Silva at Jungle Fight 11 back on September 13. He finished Silva with a TKO victory just 1:17 in the second round.

Mustapha al Turk made his UFC debut back in December at UFC 92 in a losing effort to Cheick Kongo. The former Cage Rage heavyweight champion will be looking to pick up his first win in the UFC after signing a four-fight contract with the company back in September of 2008.

“We got word from Joe Silva that Velazquez has pulled out due to injury and will be undergoing knee surgery to fix it. It’s a shame as we had a strategy in place and we were all set to go,” Al-Turk’s manager and coach, Alexis Demetriades is quoted as telling MMA Weekly.

Stepping in to replace Velasqeuz will be UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo. Kongo, who recently made a switch from being trained by Juanito Ibarra, has recently aligned himself with the Wolfslair training camp in England. He joins other notable UFC fighters Quinton Jackson and Michael Bisping.

“We were offered Kongo by Joe and we accepted the fight. We were just waiting for Kongo to get his signed bout agreement back before we could confirm it,” Demetriades also told MMA Weekly.

Kongo is coming off a knockout victory over Dan Evensen at UFC 87 in Minneapolis. Before his loss to Heath Herring at UFC 82 in March it looked as if Kongo was on the fast track to a title shot but it now appears that he’ll have to work his way back up the ladder to put himself in that kind of position again.

The report also goes on to say that the fight will be on the main card portion of the December 27 card and that the bout will be shown on pay-per-view. UFC 92 is set to include a heavyweight interim title fight between Antonio Rodrigio Nogueira and Frank Mir as well as a possible light heavyweight title bout between Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.

Al-Turk will be vacating his Cage Rage British heavyweight title to fight in the UFC and early speculation points to a debut against American Kickboxing Academy phenom Cain Velasquez at UFC 92 on December 27 in Las Vegas.

Velasquez is undefeated in MMA and has dominated his competition so far with none of his four victories getting out of the first round. Velasquez’s most recent victory came over Jake O’Brien at UFC Fight Night 14 via TKO in the first frame.

UFC 92 is set to feature a heavyweight matchup between this season’s TUF coaches, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir, for the interim heavyweight title. The winner of that fight will face off against the winner of the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar matchup at UFC 91 to be the undisputed heavyweight champion. Other rumored bouts include Forrest Griffin defending his light heavyweight crown against Rashad Evans and TUF 8 castmember C.B. Dollaway taking on Jorge Rivera.

It will now be up to each independent athletic commission in each state to adopt the new unified rules and we could see them implemented in Nevada as early as 2009 according to Nevada State Athletic Commission head honcho Keith Kizer in comments made to MMA Junkie.

Thanks to Fight Opinion, the full document for the new rules can be downloaded here. Notable rule changes include:

• Clarification to the “back of the head” rule, which is now clearly defined as the “Mohawk” definition and not Herb Dean’s “headphones” definition. The “Mohawk” definition is as follows: “crown of the head down the centerline of the skull into the spine, with a one-inch variance to each side.”
• “12 to 6″ downward elbow strikes are now legal, as long as they are not to illegal areas of the opponent
• Smothering, which is defined as cupping your hand over your opponents’ mouth, is now considered a foul.
• And finally, the ABC has defined new weight classes, which are listed here with thanks to Fight Opinion:

MEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (Up to 105 pounds)
Super Flyweight (Over 105.1 to 115 lbs)
Bantamweight (Over 115.1 to 125 lbs)
Super Bantamweight (Over 125.1 to 135 lbs)
Featherweight (Over 135.1 to 145 lbs)
Lightweight (Over 145.1 to 155 lbs)
Super Lightweight (Over 155.1 to 165 lbs)
Welterweight (Over 165.1 to 175 lbs)
Super Welterweight (Over 175.1 to 185 lbs)
Middleweight (Over 185.1 to 195 lbs)
Super Middleweight (Over 195.1 to 205 lbs)
Light Heavyweight (Over 205.1 to 225 lbs)
Heavyweight (Over 225.1 to 265 lbs)
Super Heavyweight (Over 265.1 pounds)

WOMEN’S DIVISIONS

Flyweight (95 lbs. and below)
Bantamweight (95.1-105 lbs.)
Featherweight (105.1-115 lbs.)
Lightweight (115.1-125 lbs.)
Welterweight (125.1-135 lbs.)
Middleweight (135.1-145 lbs.)
Light Heavyweight (145.1-155 lbs.)
Cruiserweight (155.1-165 lbs.)
Heavyweight (165.1-185 lbs.)
Super Heavyweight (185.1 and above)

My thoughts on the new rule changes after the jump.

I love the fact that we now have a clear definition of the “back of the head” rule. The fact that it was misunderstood by referees across the board in all of MMA was a problem. The “Mohawk” definition, like it or not, at least provides us with a consistent ruling on what constitutes a strike to the back of the head. Great job by ABC to recognize that this was something that needed to be addressed.

The downward elbow strikes are also another plus. “12 to 6″ elbows are now considered legal and they should always have been legal. The original rule was in place to stop people from performing the “12 to 6″ elbow strikes to the back of the spine. The back of the spine is now considered an illegal area on an opponent’s body, so it’s a wash. Downward elbow strikes are a way to end the fight and inflict damage. There’s nothing different about the downward elbow than there is about the horizontal elbow to an opponent from the bottom position. They’re the same motion, so why was one legal and one illegal in the first place? It’s all semantics and again, solid job by ABC to realize that this rule was in need of being changed.

“Smothering,” is an old wrestling tactic that’s made its way into MMA and has been perfected by guys like Dan Henderson and Randy Couture. While I don’t think it’s ever been a real problem in MMA, it is somewhat of a cheap move but it’s not as if it can’t be defended. I don’t feel one way or the other about this rule change but I’m sure guys like Henderson, Couture, and Matt Lindland would all have something to say about it.

And finally, the weight classes. The men’s weight classes are a little confusing to me. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The current weight classes aren’t a problem. For instance in the welterweight division, do we really want someone who’s weighing in at 165 lbs. to be facing off against a guy like Georges St. Pierre, who cuts roughly 20 lbs. to get down to 170 lbs.? I really don’t understand the weight class changes and I wonder if the commissions will be able to adopt the new unified rules without adopting the new weight classes.

As for the women’s weight classes, I feel that this is something that’s been needed for awhile now. Clearly defined women’s classes gives the women an opportunity to know where they need to be, cut to a certain weight, and perfect the cut. No more jumping from 135 lbs. to 140 lbs. 145 lbs. Just because women fighters are women fighters doesn’t mean they should be jumping all over the place to fight one another. Clearly defined weight classes allow for women to fight where they are most effective as well as allow them to get used to and perfect the proper weight cut.

What are your thoughts on the new unified rules?

Ranallo, a former play-by-play announcer for PRIDE, is also the play-by-play announcer for mixed martial arts events on SHOWTIME as well as a color commentator for EliteXC events that air on CBS. He also hosts a daily combat sports radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio and Hardcore Sports Radio every weekday from 3-4 p.m. ET.

McCarthy had been a long-time MMA referee before announcing his retirement last year in order to accept a dual executive-announcer with The Fight Network. He also owns a training center based out of California and is a former law enforcement official.

Affliction: Banned will be headlined by a main event featuring former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko taking on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in a match to decide the first-ever WAMMA heavyweight champion. Other bouts slated for the card include a rematch between former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo; Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell and Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao.

“I can’t wait to hear their first call together in Montreal,” said Mike Garrow, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President, Strategy, The Fight Network. “Play by play is so important in the fight game, and to team up Mauro Ranallo and ‘Big’ John McCarthy to call the action is going to be awesome for MMA fans who value and appreciate knowledgeable, experienced and credible commentators.”

TKO’s “Young Guns” fight card will air on PPV on January 4, 2008.

After the UFC didn’t make a mention of his retirement during his last bout as a referee at the Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, many fans were upset and felt the UFC were disrespecting the many years of service McCarthy had provided them. The UFC.com article however seems to suggest that is how McCarthy wanted it:

John McCarthy – who retired as an active referee following last weekend’s main event – was noticeable by being barely noticeable, making all the right moves and all the right calls, a fitting end to a 13 year journey that saw McCarthy become as much a part of the UFC as the great fighters who have graced its Octagon. 

The article goes on to outline the role he has played in the organization since his appointment as referee at UFC 2 and also has a few parting words from McCarthy at the end of the article.

Sure it may only be an article on the UFC’s website and the services he’s lent to the UFC over the year’s should be honoured more in the future (induction into the Hall of Fame perhaps?) but at least the UFC isn’t just sweeping him and his legacy under the carpet because he has decided to part ways for non Zuffa related MMA programming.

When asked his opinion on MMA refereeing and judging, He noted that he believes there is a lot of work to do in those departments. He also plans on being heavily involved in the training of MMA referees as well as judges.

This Saturday night, “Big” John will be the referee of the fight between Roger Huerta and Clay Guida. This will be McCarthy’s 535th bout as a referee, and his last.”Big” John will be making his first on-air appearance for The Fight Network alongside Mauro Ranallo on December 14 at TKO in Montreal, Quebec.