MMAWeekly.com is reporting that the bout was confirmed to them on Sunday by sources close to the fight.

Munoz,  an All-American wrestler who had made two successful appearances in the WEC, is coming off a loss to fellow wrestler Matt Hamill at UFC 96. Hamill landed a head kick to Munoz about four minutes into the first round and sent the Philippine fighter crashing to the canvas where he laid motionless for a few moments. At 6 feet tall fighting as a middleweight is probably the best move for him and cutting weight should not be a problem for him what so ever.

Catone finally made his debut in the UFC at Fight Night 17 where he defeated Derek Downey via second round submission. He was scheduled to fight The Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner Amir Sadollah on two separate occasions but Sadollah was forced to pull out each time. Catone made a quick return to the octagon at Fight Night 18 less than two months later where he was submitted in the second round by Tim Credeur.

UFC 102 is starting to shape up nicely with Randy Couture facing Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera in a battle of former UFC heavyweight champions. Also scheduled for the card is the return of Chris Leben from suspension as he will battle WEC veteran Jake Rosholt, Junior dos Santos takes on Justin McCully in a match-up of heavyweights and Chael Sonnen will face Wilson Gouveia. Couture, Sonnen and Leben have ties to the area as they have all at one time trained with Team Quest, in fact Sonnen still trains there and should attract a lot of local fans. There has been rumblings of Anderson Silva defending his middleweight championship against an unnamed opponent but nothing is set in stone.

Downey replaces season seven middleweight winner from The Ultimate Fighter Amir Sadollah.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the possible Downey signing on Tuesday afternoon and MMAjunkie.com was the first to confirm the news.

Downey, a native of Orem, Utah, trains under Jeremy Horn and holds a 10-3 record as a pro. He has tried out for the last two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter but now finds himself in the UFC after winning three consecutive fights and four out of his last fight.

He will debut against fellow newcomer Catone, a New Jersey-based fighter who is a former USKBA middleweight champion. Catone is 5-0 after turning pro in 2007 and has competed primarily for Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat. A standout wrestler, Catone holds notable wins against Eric Tavares and current UFC fighter John Howard.

UFN 17 will emanate from USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. As of now, the complete lineup is as follows:

Televised Main Card -

• Joe Lauzon vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
• Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
• Nick Catone vs. Derek Downey

Preliminary Bouts -

• Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
• Jake Rosholt vs. Dan Miller
• Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos
• Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
• Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
• Steve Bruno vs. Matt Riddle

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has also confirmed through a source close to Sadollah speaking on the condition of anonymity that the matchup has indeed been finalized.

Catone and Sadollah had been slated to compete against each other during the main card of UFC 91 earlier this month but the bout was canceled just days before the event due as a result of Sadollah suffering from an infection to his foot.

Both Sadollah and Catone have fighting roots on the East Coast with Sadollah having made a name for himself as an amateur while a part of Team Combat at the Combat Sports Center in Richmond, Virginia.

Meanwhile, Catone has fought for two major regional promotions on the East Coast and currently trains out of UFC middleweight Ricardo Almeida’s gym in New Jersey.

Sadollah had never fought pro before being selected to compete on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” where he successfully defeated Gerald Harris, Matt Brown, and C.B. Dollaway (twice) en route to becoming the winner of the show’s middleweight tournament.

According to iGuillotine, the Feb. 7 event will take place at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas. A lightweight matchup between Mac Danzig and Josh Neer has also been reported for the show.

According to UFC.com, Sadollah was forced to pull out of the fight due to a leg infection. Despite an exhaustive search, a replacement was not able to be secured and a decision was made to take Catone off the card in addition to Sadollah.

Originally set to be a 10-bout event, UFC 91 is now slated to be a nine match card with a welterweight encounter between Dustin Hazelett and Tamdan McCrory being promoted from the non-televised preliminary card to the televised undercard.

Hazelett vs. McCrory joins fights involving UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar, Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks, and Nate Quarry vs. Demian Maia as bouts guaranteed to be televised during Saturday’s pay-per-view telecast.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com

Bout agreements between Catone and Sadollah have not been signed but could be finalized by early next week.

Both Sadollah and Catone have fighting roots on the East Coast with Sadollah having made a name for himself as an amateur while a part of Team Combat at the Combat Sports Center in Richmond, Virginia.

Meanwhile, Catone has fought for two major regional promotions on the East Coast and currently trains out of UFC middleweight Ricardo Almeida’s gym in New Jersey.

Sadollah had never fought pro before being selected to compete on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” where he successfully defeated Gerald Harris, Matt Brown, and C.B. Dollaway (twice) en route to becoming the winner of the show’s middleweight tournament.

If the bout is signed, it would mark Catone’s debut in the UFC. He is 5-0, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, with his last four victories have been early stoppages in the first round. He most recently competed for Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat on June 27, where he recorded a first round TKO over Erik Tavares.

So far only two bouts have officially been announced for UFC 91 with Randy Couture defending the UFC heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar and a lightweight encounter between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson.

(Pictured: Nick Catone slamming John Howard)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC(R)) has added three thrilling bouts to the organization’s next UK super-show. It has been confirmed that Rameau Sokoudjou will collide with Luiz Cane in a battle of light-heavyweight strikers, Japanese submission expert Akihiro Gono will take on on highly-regarded British debutant Dan Hardy and steel-fisted heavyweight Shane Carwin will exchange bombs with England’s own Neil Wain.

There are definitely some quality match-ups in there, however I am slightly disappointed that I might not to get to see Sokoudjou vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua anytime soon. Who knows, maybe if the “African Assassin” comes out of the Cane fight unscathed (which I doubt) we may get to see him take on Shogun in December.

UFC 89 is headlined by a middleweight contest between Michael Bisping and Chris Leben and is set to take place on October 18th at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

The current rumored line-up is as follows:

• Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
• Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez*
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Luiz Cane
• Dan Hardy vs. Akihiro Gono
• Shane Carwin vs. Neil Wain
• Paul Kelly vs. Marcus Davis*
• Jess Liaudin vs. David Bielkheden*
• Samy Schiavo vs. Per Eklund*
• Sam Stout vs. Terry Etim*

*Indicates rumored bout as foretold by MMA Weekly.com.

Read more UFC 89 content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

My operation went well and I left the hospital yesterday. I hope I recover soon. It was a 5 hours operation, cutting a part of bone in radius and transplanting it in my right hand. I have never been so tired and feeling destroyed like this time. It was extremely tough operation and I am having the worst pain ever after the operation. I almost gave up and ran away from everything. Although, I have nothing to do but fighting , so I continue to being MMA fighter.

I couldn’t sleep well because my right hand is in pain even if I take pain killer pills. I realized how hard to do everything by my left hand. I want to get married so bad now. I’m 33 years old and this is my first time to dream about getting a wife. I want someone who is attractive and respectful. I should be competitive to be chosen by my dream girl though.

Anyway, thank you for supporting me and my operation went well. After dinner, I will study English which is a part of my project to be an attractive guy.

I wonder if he meant to start a new paragraph when talking about his desire to get married. Or maybe not being able to use his right hand really is the root of his desire for a wife.

Tap to Cage Potato.

Read more Akihiro Gono content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

I have a pain in my righthand from November(UFC debut fight)

So I could not train enough

I wondered it,Doctor checked my hand again,and This condition was so bad,

Doctor ordered me to stop fight and all training.

And operation is done. maybe in Junuary

I am verry sorry,my fans and John Fitch……..

I will annnounce operation schedule and come back time

A tap to Bloody Elbow.

Top welterweight contender Jon Fitch (15-2) has signed the bout agreement to fight Akihiro Gono (27-12-7) at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) just learned.

In addition, the American Kickboxing Academy standout has re-signed with the organization for another three bouts.

Considering where Fitch is at in the division right now, this is a tough fight for him. Karo Parisyan is talking about fighting someone who he can get an easy victory over to prepare for his title shot while Fitch is taking on quality, experienced competition from overseas. Some guys only want to fight the best guys. Others want to get by and do the bare minimum to get to the top. Karo and Fitch are on separate wavelengths when it comes to this matter.

It’s also good to hear that he’s signed on for another three fights in the UFC. Fitch is a very promising young talent and the UFC should do everything in their power to keep him right where he’s at.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) learned earlier this morning that welterweight contender Jon Fitch (15-2) has been approached about fighting Akihiro Gono (27-12-7) at UFC 82 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 1.

Fitch will fight on the card; however, Gono is not a lock to be his opponent at this time. Our sources indicate that the Fitch camp is working hard to line up a showdown with Karo Parisyan instead.

A fight with Akihiro Gono makes no sense for Fitch right now while a fight with Karo Parisyan makes all the sense in the world. While I think a matchup against Gono could be interesting, the welterweight division is best served by having Fitch and Parisyan battle it out to see who gets to face the winner of GSP vs. Hughes/Serra.

The presence of Fitch is a solid addition to the card either way, but I’d rather have him fight someone meaningful. While Gono is a solid fighter, he is nowhere near the top of the ladder at the welterweight division, so the fight is a lose-lose situation for Fitch.

McCrory, who is featured in FiveOuncesOfPain.com’s “MMA Prospects” section, will be taking on Shooto and PRIDE veteran Akihiro Gono in a match I really wish was being televised on the main card. “The Barn Cat” is just 21-years old and apparently has only been training for a year and a half. He’s unique for the welterweight division because he’s 6’4”.

Gono has an edge on experience in the matchup but McCrory is fearless and will fight him straight up. While I’m picking Gono, a McCrory win would not be surprising in the least.

To find out more about McCrory, click here for a link to an MMAjunkie.com interview with him and also be sure to check out the highlight video below: