News of the cancellation was first reported by MMAJunkie where it was mentioned that newcomer Ronnie Mann’s match-up with Josh Arocho would be bumped up to the main card in order to fill the vacancy.

The 24-year Mann is considered to be one of the top featherweight prospects outside of the UFC and has compiled an 18-2-1 record including ten submission wins while competing overseas.

Other bouts still scheduled for Bellator 42 include two related to the semi-final round of the Season 4 Light Heavyweight Tournament with the winners eventually emerging to face off down the road in hopes of bringing home a $100,000 pay check and the honor of being named the first 205-pound champion in promotional history. On one side of the bracket, D.J. Linderman and Richard Hale put solid winning streaks on the line, while on the other Frenchman Christian M’Pumbu will attempt to hand undefeated Tim Carpenter the first loss of his seven-fight career.

PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

Buentello holds an overall record of 29-13 with seventeen TKO victories and nine submissions including victories over Gary Goodridge and Mike Kyle.

News of the non-title match-up was announced through an official press release from the organization where Konrad made it clear he understood the difficulty of the task at hand.

“I’m not taking Buentello lightly for one moment,” the 7-0 Konrad explained. “I feel like this fight with Paul is going to be the toughest fight of my career, and that’s exactly how I’m preparing for it. Just because he’s a little older doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. He has a ton of experience, and that definitely works to his advantage.”

His soon-to-be opponent responded in kind with respect while noting the 27-year old’s background as an amateur wrestler as a significant cause for concern.

“With a nickname like “The Headhunter” most of my opponents know that I’m looking to stand and bang,” said the heavy-handed Texan. “I’m definitely expecting for Konrad to try to get me to the ground as soon as possible. I have to pull the trigger in this fight. I got into this sport making a name for myself for putting my hands on my opponent’s faces, and I definitely want to get back to my roots in this fight. I plan on standing my ground and putting my hands on Cole.”

Fans can catch the two behemoths battle it out live on MTV2 with televised action likely kicking off at 9:00 PM EST. Bellator 42 will take place at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, Oklahoma.

Perhaps most notably, former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia officially measured in at 274 pounds. The number is actually thirty pounds down from his weight in his last bout, against Mariusz Pudzianowski at Moosin last May, and only twelve pounds heavier than he was in his final Octagon appearance against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in February 2008.

“War on the Mainland” features Sylvia and Paul Buentello locking horns over the PWP Heavyweight Championship, as well as UFC veteran Jason Lambert fighting late replacement Tony Lopez for the light heavyweight belt and former IFL 185-pound champ Matt Horwich facing submission-specialist Thales Leites for the middleweight title.

Additionally, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver and hard-hitting journeyman Terry Martin are slated for action at the show. Pulver measured in at 155.4 pounds, meaning his recent run at featherweight appears to be over, while Martin came in at an even 170 pounds in preparation for his bout against 16-6-1 Jorge Ortiz.

The official results of the weigh-ins are as follows:

A.J. Matthews (168.8 lbs) vs. Sean Choice (169.4 lbs)
Todd Willingham (154.8 lbs) vs. Cleber Luciano (153.8 lbs)
Joao Silva (153.4 lbs) vs. Erin Beach (154.4 lbs)
Jorge Ortiz (169 lbs) vs. Terry Martin (170 lbs)
Gustavo Machado (185.8 lbs) vs. Rick Reeves (183 lbs)
Jens Pulver (155.4 lbs) vs. Diego Garijo (153.8 lbs)
Matt Horwich (185.4 lbs) vs. Thales Leites (184.6 lbs)
Jason Lambert (203.8 lbs) vs. Tony Lopez (204.6 lbs)
Tim Sylvia (274.4 lbs) vs. Paul Buentello (251.6 lbs)*

* – Bout is being contested with 275-pound maximum rather than the standard 265-pound limit for heavyweights

Sylvia, who has felt the highs of headlining huge events to the lows of being knocked out by a 48-year old man making his professional MMA debut, has won back-to-back fights since losing to Ray Mercer a year ago and looks to continue the righting of his career this Saturday night against 28-12 journeyman Paul Buentello. The two men, both known for their striking, will scrap for Powerhouse World Promotion’s heavyweight title at the company’s “War on the Mainland” show in Irvine, California.

Five Ounces of Pain recently had a chance to ask “The Maine-iac” for his basic thoughts on Buentello and the bout in general. Sylvia’s level of respect for the powerful Texan was clear and understandably so given Buentello seventeen career TKOs and history of leaving it all in the cage whenever he competes.

“I think Paul is a good guy and a great fighter,” said Sylvia. “I think it’s going to be a great fight and the fans are going to love it – two stand-up guys that want to knockout someone.”

“War on the Mainland” takes place at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, August 14th, and will be available on cable/satellite PPV starting at 7:00PT/10:00ET. Beyond Sylvia and Buentello championship clash, the card also features title fights between UFC alumnus Jason Lambert and eight-time World BJJ champion Allan Goes for the light heavyweight belt, as well as former IFL 185-pound champ Matt Horwich facing submission-specialist Thales Leites for the middleweight strap. Additionally, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver and hard-hitting veteran Terry Martin are slated for action at the show.

Buentello’s dismissal from the UFC comes on the heels of a bizarre defeat suffered at the hands of Cheick Kongo during the inaugural “UFC on Versus” event where the veteran of nearly forty profefessional scraps wound up on the receiving end of a beatdown from Kongo that included a dislocated finger, knee strikes while downed, and ultimately some punishing elbow strikes to the thigh that forced the bout’s conclusion.

Buentello had challenged for the UFC heavyweight crown back in October of 2005, but wound up being flattened in lighting quick fashion at the hands of Andrei Arlovski. Buentello didn’t fare very much better in his next attempt at championship glory when “The Headhunter” wound up being TKO’d by Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce strap in November of 2007.

A return to Strikeforce would seem unlikely at best in the near future for Buentello being that Strikeforce President Scott Coker made his opinion of the four-time Strikeforce vet quite clear during the previous parting of ways between fighter and promotion that took place in late 2009.

“We offered Paul a six-figure contract to fight Fedor, but he turned it down,” said Coker in a statement released in September of 2009. “His decision is understandable considering Fedor’s level of skill but, at the same time, Paul didn’t really fit into our plans. He’s been a solid journeyman fighter and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Buentello entered the UFC on a two fight winning streak with a pair of wins over the likes of Gary Goodridge and “Baby Fedor”, Kirill Sidelnikov, but will be leaving with a pair of defeats suffered to Stefan Struve, and most recently, Kongo.

The event will take place on December 12 from Memphis, Tennessee, featuring a headlining lightweight championship bout between B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez.

Buentelllo was previously expected to face off with heavyweight wrecking machine Todd Duffee at the event before an injury forced the fast rising prospect from the card.

Appropriately coined “The Skyscraper. the 6’10″, 240 pound Struve sports a professional record of 18-3 with 14 submissions to his credit. The towering Dutch submission specialist is currently riding a two-fight win streak with the UFC with both wins coming by submission, after having dropped his Octagon debut via TKO at the hands of Junior dos Santos in February of this year.

Making his first return to the UFC in close to four years, Buentello is known as a power puncher with a penchant for knocking his opponents senseless. He currently holds an impressive UFC record of 3-1, with his last bout coming in January of this year, stopping “Baby Fedor” Kirill Sidelnikov during “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” via TKO.

This one is a clear cut case of the old school “classic striker vs. grappler match-up” at it’s finest.

A full list of the bouts expected for UFC 107 are listed below:

• BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

• Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo

• Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

• Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce

• Stefan Struve vs. Paul Buentello

• Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia

• Matt Wiman vs. Shane Nelson

• Johny Hendricks vs. Ricardo Funch

• Rousimar Palhares vs. Lucio Linhares

• DaMarques Johnson vs. Edgar Garcia

• Kevin Burns vs. TJ Grant

The event is expected to take place from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee on December 12.

As it currently stands, both fighters have verbally agreed to the match-up according to a recent report at MMAJunkie.com.

Duffee has put together an unblemished record of 5-0, with five knockouts to his credit during his time spent as a professional. He recently made his Octagon debut during UFC 102, where he stopped fellow big man Tim Hague with a barrage of punches at the seven second mark, setting a new record for the fastest KO in UFC history in the process.

Buentello has put together a career record of 24-10. Most recently he has put together back to back wins over Kirill Sidelnikov and Gary Goodridge following a TKO loss to Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce heavyweight championship.

Below is a full list of the bouts expected for UFC 107:

B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez (LW Championship)

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo

Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago

Todd Duffee vs. Paul Buentello

Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia

Kevin Burns vs. T.J. Grant

Paul “The Head Hunter” Buentello

Strikeforce President Scott Coker confirmed the release with Sherdog.com through a company representative, explaining,”We offered Paul a six-figure contract to fight Fedor, but he turned it down. His decision is understandable considering Fedor’s level of skill but, at the same time, Paul didn’t really fit into our plans. He’s been a solid journeyman fighter and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

The American Kickboxing Academy standout was scheduled to fight against Gilbert Yvel at “Affliction: Trilogy”, but was ultimately cancelled due to Afflictions sudden demise.

Buentello informed Sherdog that the UFC would honor his previous contract with Affliction and negotiating a possible extension.

“The Head Hunter” has an overall record of 27-10, with wins in his last two bouts against Gary Goodridge and Kirill Sidelnikov. A veteran of multiple organizations, Buentello last competed in the UFC back in 2006, scoring a TKO win over the late Gilbert Aldana at UFC 57.

Things started out well enough for Rizzo as he took the dangerous kickboxer to the ground and proceeded to land some heavy elbows before Yvel managed to scramble back to his feet. Once up, Yvel bumrushed Rizzo and knocked him to the canvas where he finished him off with a series of punches that left the Brazilian in an unconscious stupor for some time after the fight was stopped.

After the bout Yvel confirmed that he expected for his next bout to be against Paul Buentello at Affliction Trilogy which is set to take place on August 1 in Anaheim, California.

Buentello was previously slated to face former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia before his recent knockout embarrassment at the hands of Ray Mercer persuaded Affliction to remove him from the card.

The report of Affliction’s decision to cut Sylvia from the event comes courtesy of MMAFanhouse.com.

The announcement comes on the heels of Sylvia’s ten second knockout loss at the hands of 48 year old former heavyweight boxing champ Ray Mercer in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday evening. Previously slated as a boxing match, the bout inevitably failed to be sanctioned and was switched to an MMA rules bout just prior to fight time. Sylvia weighed in at 310 pounds before the loss to Mercer.

“It’s his second knockout in a row, and I don’t want to take a chance on anything,” Affliction VP Tom Atencio was quoted as saying in the report. “The fight is less than 60 days away.”

Atencio also confirmed that Paul Buentello would still be competing on the card. His opponent will most likely be the winner of the upcoming June 27 clash between Gilbert Yvel and Pedro Rizzo at “Ultimate Chaos”.

The bout between the two had been rumored for quite some time before MMAFanhouse was able to confirm the bout this afternoon.

Affliction III: Trilogy will take place at the Honda Center in Los Angeles, California on August 1 and is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.

Sylvia is set to face off with former heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer on June 13 in a boxing match that will be held in Birmingham, Alabama. His last appearance in mixed martial arts saw him on the receiving end of a Fedor choke at Affliction: Banned in July of 2008.

Buentello has gone undefeated in his two appearances with Affliction, defeating Gary Goodridge by decision in July before stopping Kirill Sidelnikov by TKO in January.

A full list of the bouts expected for Affliction III as of this writing are listed below:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett

Tim Sylvia vs. Paul Buentello

Jay Hieron vs. Paul Daley

Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon

The fight will be a part of HDNet’s telecast of the event’s undercard, which will be anchored by a light heavyweight bout between Vladimir Matyushenko and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

The addition of Sidelnikov is intriguing because he is one of the world’s top fighters under the age of 21 and his fight with Buentello will mark the first time the young Russian has competed on U.S. soil.

Nicknamed “Baby Fedor” by his mentors with the Russian Red Devil fight team, Sidelnikov is 4-2 in his young career. The 20-year old is considered a prodigy and a potential successor to Emelianenko as Russia’s top heavyweight fighter.

Competing exclusively for Vadim Finkelstein’s M-1 promotion, Sidelnikov is considered a dangerous puncher with all four of his victories having been stopped in the first round. His most recent bout took place in September during an M-1 Challenge event in the United Kingom, where he was victorious against James Jack.

Buentello is 26-10 in an MMA career that dates back to 1997. In addition to having competed for the UFC, Buentello has also fought for Strikeforce. He holds notable wins over David “Tank” Abbott, Justin Eilers, and Mike Kyle. His most recent fight was a unanimous decision victory over Gary Goodridge during Affliction’s debut event this past July.

The reporting of the Buentello vs. Sidelnikov brings the “Day of Reckoning” card into greater focus, with a tentative lineup appearing as follows:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski (officially announced)
• Josh Barnett vs. TBA (Barnett is being featured in advertisements)
• Matt Lindland vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (officially reported)
• Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon (rumored)
• Jay Hieron vs. Jason High (officially reported)
• Vitor Belfort vs. TBA (officially reported)
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (officially reported for the undercard)
• Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov (officially reported for the undercard)

A source close to the situation spoke to MMANews.com’s Michael Moody on a condition of anonymity and explained that the blood tests came back right before Aleks and Buentello were scheduled to weigh in and that is why there was so much confusion around the stage and why the fighters did not weigh in. Gary Goodridge ended up stepping up on extremely short notice and filling in for the Russian heavyweight.

The tests were positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in the CSAC cancelling the fight. Hep B is the result of transmission from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood.

If this news is true, it’s unfortunate for Aleks. The younger brother of Fedor has so much potential to be one of the best heavyweights in the world but due to this he may never be able to reach his full potential. He almost certainly will be barred from fighting in the United States. As the article points out, it’s also unlikely that anyone will want to step into the ring against him if he has indeed tested positive for Hepatitis B for fear of catching the disease themselves. Aleks has been through some seriously hard times in his life and this is just another unfortunate happening in his life.

Thomas had appeared to be in contention for the UFC lightweight title following three consecutive wins in 2006-2007. However, “The Ultimate Fighter” alumnus from season four went on to lose his next two fights.

Thomas’ three fight win streak was broken at the hands of Kenny Florian at UFC Fight Night 11 last September when he submitted to a rear naked choke at 4:31 of round 1. During the fight, Thomas suffered a major knee injury.

He would return to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 13 this past April, where he lost a unanimous decision to the returning Josh Neer.

According to the Observer, Thomas is deciding between whether to retire or continue competing at 145 pounds. Thomas had mentioned publicly he was considering the move to featherweight, but several outlets erroneously reported that he was being transferred to Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting.

The report in the Observer indicates that fighting in the WEC in the future is a possibility for Thomas, but that his contract was not transferred over and that he will likely need to win multiple fights outside of the promotion before being offered a contract.

Speer was the second place finisher during the welterweight tournament for the sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He lost in the final to Mac Danzig via first round submission. The Minnesota native fell to 0-2 in the UFC after he was knocked out in the first round against Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 13.

Hironaka’s lifetime UFC record fell to 1-3 following a second round TKO loss to Jonathan Goulet at UFC 83. The bout was awarded a “Fight of the Night” cash bonus by UFC officials, but the feeling was that Hironaka had taken too much punishment in his last two bouts, according to the Observer’s report.

The three join Joe Doerksen and Travis Lutter as fighters recently released by the UFC as the promotion looks to trim its roster from 200 fights to anywhere between 140-160.

Kalib Starnes was also released in the days immediately proceeding UFC 83, however, he claims he requested his own release. Whether or not the option was truly in his hands is not entirely clear.

Middleweight Charles McCarthy is also no longer on the roster, as he announced his retirement following his loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 83.

You can check out Hironaka’s blog by clicking here.

I’m still trying to figure out how the poodle plays into all of this.