News of the match-up was first rumored after a Twitter exchange between Huerta-Baroni and has since been confirmed by MMAWeekly.

Huerta has only entered the ring a single time since his 2010 stint in Bellator, losing by way of TKO to War Machine this past November. The former lightweight stand-out holds an overall record of 21-6 even though he’s fallen in three straight and has racked up past wins over Matt Wiman, Leonard Garcia, and Clay Guida.

Baroni has also struggled as of late, dropping four of his last five fights with a decision win over Nick Nolte the only exception. However, the “New York Bad Ass” could add a win to his 14-14 mark a few weeks prior to his meeting with Huerta, as Baroni is scheduled for action at a June 2 show.

ONE FC 4: Destiny of Warriors is set for June 23 in Kuala Lumpur with other featured bouts including Masakzau Imanari-Leandro Issa and Renato Sobral-Tatsuya Mizuno.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/TITANFC

Though not the headliner, the match-up meriting most of the MMA community’s attention will go on as planned with UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Yoshiyuki Yoshida both came in at their agreed-upon catchweight (175). Baroni and Yoshida both got back to their winning ways in recent fights after struggling to notch a victory in the ring meaning success in Singapore should produce some solid momentum for one while sending the other back to the proverbial drawing board.

The only fight to not hit his required mark was Ultimate Fighter alumnus Andy Wang who came in four pounds over his contracted weight and will be docked 15% of his purse as a result.

Interested viewers can tune in to ONE FC for free tomorrow morning on Sherdog starting at 7:00 AM EST.

Read below for full ONE FC weigh-in results. All figures have been rounded to the nearest quarter-pound:

Daniel Mashamaite (136 lbs) vs. Yodsanan Sityodtong (135 lbs)
Eddie Ng (159.5 lbs) vs. Yuan Chun Bo (154.25 lbs)
Soo Chul Kim (135.5 lbs) vs. Leandro Issa (136.5 lbs)
Vuyisile Colossa (160.75 lbs) vs. Ma Xing Yu (155.25 lbs)
Radeem Rahman (125.25 lbs) vs. Susovan Ghosh (125.25 lbs)
Gregor Gracie (171 lbs) vs. Seok Mo Kim (169.75 lbs)
Andy Wang (163 lbs)* vs. Zorobabel Moreira (159 lbs)
Mitch Chilson (145.5 lbs) vs. Eric Kelly (142.5 lbs)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (174.75 lbs) vs. Phil Baroni (176 lbs)
Eduard Folayang (156 lbs) vs. A Sol Kwon (155 lbs)

* – Wang will forfeit 15% of his purse after missing weight

PHOTO CREDIT – TITAN FC

While Phil Baroni’s form has been up and down over the past few years, the fan-favorite from Long Island has agreed to face fellow UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida on September 3 in Singapore at the opening event for newly formed promotion One FC where a combination of unified and PRIDE rules will be used. Baroni went 3-2 in the famed Japanese organization including victories over Ryo Chonan and Ikuhisa Minowa.

Their match-up along with other bouts expected on the card were announced through a press release earlier today. As far as the parameters of the pairings, kicks and knees to a grounded opponent are expected to be allowed, as will elbows, with the fight to be contested inside a cage.

Baroni is coming off a win last March at Titan FC 17 after dropping three straight in the UFC/Strikeforce. Though his overall record may only be 14-13, the 35-year old striker has earned a reputation for never failing to entertain whether in front of a microphone, during his trademark walk down to the ring, or while slugging it out against an adversary.

Though Yoshida may not be known for the same brashness as Baroni, his flare for finishing foes is equal with ten stoppages in twelve total victories including two inside the Octagon. Among his past victims are Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver, Luis Santos, Katsuya Inoue, and Akira Kikuchi.

The rest of the announced One FC lineup thus far is as follows:

Eduard Folayang vs. Ole Laursen
Mitch Chilson vs. Eric Kelly
Gregor Gracie vs. Wang Sai
Andy Wang vs. Zorobabel Moreira

PHOTO CREDIT – Titan FC/UFC

Jon Fitch Gives Final Thoughts on UFC 127 Fight with B.J. Penn (MMAFighting.com)

Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera Share an Intense Staredown at the UFC 127 Presser (CagePotato.com)

A Look at the Top Aussies in MMA (FIGHT! Magazine)

Cub Swanson Out of UFC on Versus 3 Bout (HeavyMMA.com)

Check Out Video of Anderson Silva Sparring with Lyoto Machida (MMAScraps.com)

Fedor Emelianenko Considering Training in Holland (MMAConvert.com)

Phil Baroni Offers Brandon Vera Impression (MiddleEasy.com)

A Look at the UFC 127 Open Workouts (Versus.com

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“This is a very important fight for me and my preparation has already begun,” said Baroni of the bout. “I cannot afford to be anything but my best. Nolte is a very game opponent and has to see this as an opportunity to get a big win. I’ll do whatever it takes not to let that happen and I look forward to putting on a show in Kansas City and winning over the fans with my exciting fighting style. I plan on setting up shop in Titan and that means taking Nolte’s ass out in KO fashion.”

The 34-year old New Yorker is coming off back-to-back losses in the UFC in addition to a another defeat to Joe Riggs before signing to return to the Octagon. Prior to the slide Baroni had won three fights in a row including a pair of first-frame knockouts. Known for his heart and love of stand-up, Baroni holds an overall record of 13-13 but has only gone the distance en route to victory twice in a decade long career while compiling nine wins by way of TKO including success against respected Japanese veterans Ikuhisa Minowa and Ryo Chonan.

His opponent, who will enter the bout as a hometown favorite given his Kansas City roots, is 2-2 since turning pro a little less than two years ago and is coming off a submission over Lee Werr in November. Both of Nolte’s wins, as well as defeats, have been the result of a tap-out.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“I’m very happy and excited to re-start my career with Titan Fighting in Kansas City,” said the 34-year old. “I have another chapter to write and it starts March 25. The best NYBA ‘eva is fighting for Titan… People love a comeback.”

“Phil has a star quality to him that so few fighters have and win or lose he has always fought with a true warrior’s mentality,” added Titan Fighting CEO Joe Kelly.

Baroni is 13-13 with eleven finishing performances including nine TKOs and more than half of his losses coming as a result of the judges’ scorecards. The outspoken East Coaster holds past wins over Ryo Chonan, Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa, and Yuki Kondo.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the match-up was initially reported by MMAJunkie and has since been confirmed by Baroni himself via Twitter.

Tavares, who turns 23 ten days before the bout, is currently 6-0 and most-recently outpointed Seth Baczysnki last June in his official promotional debut. Prior to the victory the Hawaiian had finished all five of his previous adversaries.

UFC 125 is headlined by a title-defense featuring 155-pound champ Frank Edgar putting his belt on the line against Gray Maynard, as well as Takanori Gomi testing Clay Guida’s motor (and chin), Thiago Silva fighting Brandon Vera, and Antonio McKee’s first crack at victory in the famous eight-sided cage. A bout between heavyweights Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin is also rumored for the event.

UFC 106

The news of the bout was recently verified by Inside Fights through sources close to both camps.

UFC 106 is scheduled for November 21 from Las Vegas.

Sadollah, the 170 pound winner of the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter, had been force to withdraw from couple of previous match-ups in the UFC due to injuries, before most recently being TKO’d in the first round by Johny Hendricks during UFC 101.

Baroni sports a career record of 13-11, with a UFC record of 3-5. He recently put together three consecutive wins in smaller promotions before being defeated via decision by Joe Riggs in his last trip to the cage at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields in June.

While nothing has been announced by the UFC at this time, below is a full list of the bouts expected to take place at the event:

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

Mark Coleman vs. Tito Ortiz

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

Ricardo Almeida vs. Jon Fitch

Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni

The Las Vegas based knockout artist has reportedly agreed to an offer with the UFC verbally according to a recent report on Sherdog.com. Of course in order for Baroni to have reportedly agreed to an offer, an offer had to have been made in theory.

The news comes almost immediately after a statement issued through Strikeforce that the 170 pound brawler had been released from his obligations to the promotion.

“We wish Phil the best of luck and hope he can revive his career,’’ said Strikeforce President Scott Coker in a press release on Thursday. “If he can, maybe one day, he can return and fight for us.”

After starting his UFC career with a bang, compiling three straight victories, Baroni was given the boot back in 2005 after losing his next four.

Since his release from the UFC Baroni has gone on to put together a record of 8-6; compiling wins over the likes of Ryo Chonan, Yuki Kondo and Olaf Olfanso while dropping bouts to fighters such as Kazou Misaki, Frank Shamrock, and most recently Joe Riggs in Strikeforce.

While Baroni being signed with the UFC is far from official at this point in time, if he was signed, it would be a decisive message to fighters such as the previously noted Thales Leites that the UFC means business when they say that they only want fighters that come to fight.

Baroni, who will step into the cage against Joe “Diesel” Riggs on the televised portion of the card, made sure to remind fans of why he’s always been known as a fighter who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Riggs found himself directly in Baroni’s crosshairs, especially in regards to his apparent absenteeism from the call.

“The guy is a no-show for the conference call,” said Baroni. “He’s got a real big problem. I’ve been telling you since day one you better have someone else lined up because I don’t think he’s going to show up. We’re all busy and we’re all training right now and we don’t want to do this but we’re all big and professional except that (expletive). It’s up to him how long the fight is going to last. I want to show everyone in MMA that I’m for real. All roads lead through Joe Riggs. I’m planning on blowing right through this kid.”

The outspoken Long Islander, who is 3-0 since making the move down to 170 pounds, made it clear he’s going to be especially agitated on Saturday night and it will have nothing to do with cutting weight.

“(Dropping to welterweight) has been real comfortable,” explained Baroni. “Losing sixteen pounds of muscle helped a lot. I feel great. I feel like I’m nineteen years old again. I have tons of energy. I feel like I should be on a box of Wheaties and doing cereal commercials.

“I’m on edge right now. Don’t cross me now because I haven’t had sex in four weeks and I’m on a diet. I’m ready to kill someone. This is going to be a war and I’m in total fight mode. I don’t even know what I’m talking about right now. Next question!”

In closing, Baroni expressed excitement about the opportunity he’d been given and continued to hype the fight as only he can.

“I’m just ready to go,” Said the animated Baroni. “It’s a coming out party for me. I’m a different person out there. Joe Riggs is underestimating me and making a big mistake. The talking is done. It’s time to do it in the ring. I can’t wait to get in there and show the world I’m a legitimate contender and can do this. Better later than never.”

It sounds as though fans in St. Louis are in for a treat this weekend when Strikeforce rolls into the Gateway City. In fact, it sounds like all MMA enthusiasts are.

MMAWeekly.com was the first site to report the bout as being finalized and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has since confirmed the report with sources close to both fighters.

Baroni, 13-10, has also competed in PRIDE and EliteXC in addition to the UFC. The 31-year old is 3-0 since moving from middleweight to welterweight with wins over Scott Jansen, Ron Verdadero, and Olaf Alfonso to his credit.

Riggs, 29-10, last competed at Strikeforce’s “Destruction” event in November. Facing rising prospect Luke Stewart, Riggs TKO’d Stewart at 2:05 of round 2. The 26-year old veteran holds notable victories in his career over Nick Diaz, Kendall Grove, and Chris Lytle.

In addition to Riggs vs. Baroni, Strikeforce’s June event will be headlined by a middleweight matchup between former EliteXC 185 pound title holder Robbie Lawler facing ex-EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has confirmed through sources close to both fighters that the fight has been offered, but nothing has been finalized just yet.

A recently proposed bout between EliteXc welterweight champion, Jake Shields, and Riggs was nixed from the April Strikeforce card in order to promote a middleweight showdown between Shields and EliteXC middleweight champion, Robbie Lawler, that is now slated to take place on the April card.

Both men are known as bangers, and if the fight does end up being finalized, this one has fireworks written all over it.

Following his departure from the UFC, Riggs has found a new home with Strikeforce. He has gone 2-2 with the organization, most recently stopping Luke Stewart in the first round of their bout in November of 2008.

Baroni has been a road warrior over the last two years, fighting in five different organization in his last six bouts, compiling a record of 3-3 along the way. After dropping three straight bouts, Baroni has rebounded with three wins, with the most recent being a decision over Olaf Alfonso in September of 2008.

Strikeforce officials are mulling several options for the fifth fight and Strikeforce Founder and CEO Scott Coker is quoted as telling MMAjunkie.com that a fight involving Riggs vs. Phil Baroni was a potential option.

However, FiveOuncesOfPain.com has spoken with a source speaking on the condition of anonymity who indicated that a Riggs vs. Baroni fight will not be taking place on April 11.

As of now, a fight has not been finalized for the fifth and final television slot. Riggs is still a potential candidate to compete on the card if a suitable opponent can be secured and Coker also indicated to FiveOuncesOfPain.com’s Jay Tan on Thursday that Brett Rogers is under consideration for the slot as well.

An exact or opponent has been confirmed as of yet with contracts also not having been finalized.

“The fight is at welterweight an will take place May in Seattle,” Baroni informed the UG. “I’ve started my training camp at Extreme Couture in Las Vegas… I’m very happy to be fighting in Strikeforce for (Founder and CEO) Scott Coker again. Having done business with Scott Coker in the past, I could not be any happier that he has the CBS (and) Showtime TV deal… Honest promoters are hard to come (by) an I’m glad to be fighting for one of the few out there.”

Baroni has rejuvenated his career since dropping down to welterweight and is currently riding a three fight win streak. This will not be Baroni’s first foray under the Strikeforce banner as he had a highly publicized fight against Frank Shamrock in June of 2007 that was co-promoted by EliteXC and Strikeforce. Shamrock won the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title following a second round submission.

Baroni went on to lose two more fights at middleweight including losing via first round TKO to Joey Villasenor on EliteXC’s debut show on CBS in May of 2008. Since dropping down to 170, Baroni has wins over Olaf Alfonso, Ron Verdadero and Scott Jansen while fighting for various promotions.

The San Jose-based Strikeforce produced eight shows in 2008 but have since signed with Showtime to produce 16 live televised events per year. That announcement came on the heels of  the acquisition of several big name stars who had fought under the ProElite umbrella.

If the rumored May event is finalized, it would mark Strikeforce’s second trip to Washington state after having promoted a show at the Tacoma Dome in February of 2008. The event, billed as “Strikeforce at the Dome” and televised by HDNet, was headlined by former University of Washington football standout Bob Sapp.

While interviewing Baroni, we asked him about where his career could be headed next, whether a rematch with Frank Shamrock is possible in 2009, what it was like fighting for EliteXC, and more.

Baroni, expected to compete at welterweight, is scheduled to face former WEC veteran Olaf Alfonso during the promotion’s Palace Fighting Championships 10 show.

The former UFC middleweight is now 2-0 after losing via first round TKO on primetime network television against Joey Villasenor during CBS’ first-ever MMA telecast on May 31.

Soon after the loss to Villasenor, Baroni announced his intention to move from middleweight to welterweight. He made his 170 pound debut while competing for ProElite-owned Cage Rage on July 12, where he knocked out Scott Jansen at 3:18 of round 1.

He would fight again less than a month later, this time for ProElite-owned ICON Sport on August 2 in a 175 pound fight against Ron Verdadero. Baroni TKO’d Verdadero at 0:51 of round 1 in what some in attendance claimed to have been a premature stoppage.

Alfonso is 7-8, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. The former PRIDE Bushido veteran has won two consecutive fights after having lost six in a row.

The event is also advertising the MMA debut of Chad Mendes, who recently signed a six-fight deal with the PFC. Mendes was a runner-up in this year’s NCAA tournament and now a member of Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness gym in Sacramento. Like Faber, he also competes as a featherweight.

PFC 10 is also slated to feature a lightweight title defense by PFC champion Brian Cobb, who will be taking on Lance Wipf. Also scheduled to fight are WEC bantamweights Antonio Banuelos, Charlie Valencia, and Del Hawkins.

According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Phil Baroni won via TKO at 51 seconds into the first round after landing an uppercut and a right hook that dropped his opponent, Ron Verdadero to the mat. According to the report, Verdadero immediately got up as the referee jumped in to stop the fight:

Shimada stops it as Verdadero QUICKLY gets back up. HORRIBLE STOPPAGE. Verdadero wasn’t even hurt. Oh man.

Also in action was Kala Kolohe Hose, who toppled his opponent Rolando Dominique via TKO in round two. With this victory, Hose rebounds from a stunning first round submission loss to Bubba McDaniel at the EliteXC: Return of the King show in June. Hose, from what the report says, doesn’t seem to have appeared too impressive but got the job done.

Also on the card was an apparent barnburner and a fight that the Star-Bulletin is calling Fight of the Year material between Mark Oshiro and Bao Quach for the ICON Sport North American championship. The fight was back and forth, with Quach having Oshiro in trouble several times with armbar attempts. It sounds like the fight was up and down, back and forth, and went everywhere that an MMA fight could go. Quach was able to secure a unanimous decision victory to become the new ICON Sport North American champion.

Also in action last night were Alberto Crane and Drew Fickett at Rage in the Cage 113. Crane is an ex-UFC fighter and Fickett is a veteran of the UFC and EliteXC. According to Sherdog, Crane apparently took care of business, getting his opponent, Adrian Valdez, to the ground quickly, then transitioning from an armbar attempt to a guillotine choke to force a tap in the first round.

Fickett didn’t fare as well, apparently coming into weigh-ins two pounds overweight:

Fickett came in over weight and had to run off two pounds, which may have taken its toll on him. Villa and his camp figured they would take full advantage of that by letting Fickett come out strong and then tire.

According to the report, round one was all Fickett with two head kicks, a takedown, and submission attempts from Fickett. But apparently he gassed early and in round two he paid dearly. Richard Villa came out firing with a hard right hand that dropped Fickett and he pounced on him from there, landing a barrage of strikes that forced a referee stoppage.

Full results for ICON Sport: Hard times can be found here. Full results for Rage in the Cage 113 can be found here.

But I am wondering whether or not he has enough wins right now to be top 10. Sure, it’s only been two fights at 155 for Alvarez, but the two wins were against high caliber opponents. Andre “Dida” Amade is no joke and we all know how good Joachim Hansen is.

His standup has been excellent and he’s really starting to show his outstanding wrestling skills.  As it stands, I’m leaning towards moving Alvarez into my top ten. But is that the Philly in me talking?

In turn, I’m thinking about dropping Mitsuhiro Ishida out of the top ten in order to make room for Alvarez. It will be a steep drop, but the loss to Caol Uno has to have an adverse effect on his ranking. Uno at one point was a top five lightweight in the world. But prior to this weekend’s win, I didn’t consider him top 15.

Obviously, I’m looking for some honest feedback.

There was so much MMA action from this past weekend that I am still catching up. The problem though is that this sport never stops. There really is little time to play catchup because each day brings a whole new list of to-dos.

I was able to watch Eddie Alvarez vs. Andre Dida from DREAM.1, Phil Baroni vs. Kala Kolohe Hose at ICON Sport, and Jake Rosholt vs. Chad Jay from the Xtreme Fighting League.

I’ll start with Alvarez vs. Dida. I felt it was a great match and I was really impressed with Alvarez’s performance. It was kind of strange seeing Alvarez fight as such a light weight. I don’t remember seeing him that small before but he looked good. Alvarez showed some very good wrestling skill in the fight and his takedowns were solid. He also showed a strong chin in that he took several big shots from Dida and was able to maintain.

It wasn’t a flawless performance though as I felt he missed some opportunities to execute an armbar and a couple of rear naked chokes. Alvarez’s punching was solid but not quite as accurate as it normally is. There really aren’t many fighters with better technical boxing than Alvarez so I hold him to a different standard.

All in all though, it was a great lightweight debut for Alvarez and he definitely has a huge future at 155-160 lbs. It was a strong win against a a top guy in Dida.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

We’ll be running a trivia style contest which will focus on the fighters and happenings from BodogFIGHT St. Petersburg Season II. So brush up on your BodogFIGHT knowledge because on Wed March 12th we’ll be posting the five (5) trivia questions. The first five readers to post the five correct answers will each win a DVD set.

The BodogFIGHT: St. Petersburg DVD features Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt “The Law” Lindland, Aleksander Emelianenko, Eddie Alvarez, Roman Zentsov, Andrei Semenov, Jorge Masvidal, and Nick “The Goat” Thompson. The DVD also has top female fighters such as Amanda Buckner, Julie Kedzie, Julia Berezekova and Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm.

This nine (9) hour, 4 disc DVD set includes a ton of extras, fighter commentary, behind the scenes footage and the “uncensored” Bodog Girls.

Your chance to win this DVD set will be midday Wed 3/12. Check fiveouncesofpain.com for the contest post and then get your answers up quickly. The prizes will be awarded to the first five correct entries.

If you want to purchase BodogFIGHT: St. Petersburg, The Complete Second Series you can get it at the Bodog Store.