MMAWeekly.com was the first to report the news, which confirmed the rematch with a source close to Nelson’s camp.

Referee Rick Fike declared Nelson the winner via TKO just 44 seconds into the bout soon after Nelson dropped Riley with a punch. Nelson went in for the finish while Riley began to defend himself and Fike inexplicably called a premature stop to the fight.

Nelson’s victory over Riley improved his record to 12-3. The B.J. Penn-trained fighter is a Hawaiian native and prior to the UFC had spent most of his career competing on the Islands. While fighting for promotions just as X-1 and Rumble on the Rock, Nelson posted notable victories over Kaleo Kwan and Harris Sarmiento.

Coming off the heels of a six-fight win streak, Nelson was cast for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter last January and made it to the final field of 16 after winning a qualifying bout against Charles Diaz. However, he was eliminated following  a loss in the every next round when he was submitted by eventual lightweight show winner Efrain Escudero. He then rebounded during the show’s live season finale on Dec. 13 after recording a split decision victory over George Roop.

Riley made his UFC return at UFC 91 in November and won a unanimous decision against Jorge Gurgel. Currently 27-11-1 overall with a lifetime record of 1-3 inside the Octagon, the 12-year veteran is currently on this third tour of duty with the UFC and has also competed for PRIDE and BodogFIGHT.

UFC 101 is currently scheduled to be headlined by Nelson’s trainer, B.J. Penn, defending the UFC lightweight title against number one contender Kenny Florian.

Aaron Riley (27-10-1) vs. Shane Nelson (11-3)

Despite a pedigree that includes training under B.J. Penn, Nelson is hardly a blue chip prospect. Having develop a reputation on the Hawaiian MMA scene for being less than an exciting fighter, Nelson still got a shot to be a part of the cast for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Despite winning in the qualifying round and make it into the house, Nelson was eliminated from competition early against eventual-lightweight winner Efrain Escudero. Despite the loss, he showed enough to get a shot in a non-televised match at the TUF 8 finale against George Roop.

While Nelson earned a split decision win over Riley, the UFC’s lightweight division is overstocked and native Hawaiian’s job security is less than certain.

Currently on his third tour of duty with the UFC, the rugged and experienced Riley earned his first win inside of the Octagon at UFC 91 this past November when he recorded a unanimous decision win over Jorge Gurgel that knocked Gurgel out of the UFC.

With previous UFC losses against Spencer Fisher and Robbie Lawler, the 28-year old journeyman will look to win his fourth consecutive fight and keep his spot in the UFC.

It’s hard to break down this matchup, as Nelson has the better jiu-jitsu yet Riley is stronger and more aggressive. In the end, I believe Riley’s experience and versatility will prove to be the difference.

Prediction: Riley over Nelson via second round TKO.

The news is courtesy of a report from MMAjunkie.com, which quoted a source close to Nelson as indicating that the fight is close to being finalized.

Nelson’s victory over Roop improved his record to 11-3. The B.J. Penn-trained fighter is a Hawaiian native and prior to the UFC had spent most of his career competing on the Islands. While fighting for promotions just as X-1 and Rumble on the Rock, Nelson posted notable victories over Kaleo Kwan and Harris Sarmiento.

Coming off the heels of a six-fight win streak, Nelson was cast for TUF 8 last January and made it to the final field of 16 after winning a qualifying bout against Charles Diaz. However, he was eliminated following  a loss in the every next round when he was submitted by eventual lightweight show winner Efrain Escudero.

Riley made his UFC return at UFC 91 in November and won a unanimous decision against Jorge Gurgel. The victory improved Riley’s overall MMA record to 27-10-1 and his UFC record to 1-2.

UFC 96 will take place in Columbus, Ohio and emanate from the Nationwide Arena. Other bouts currently expected for the event include Jim Miller vs. Gray Maynard, Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, and Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day, and Dustin Hazelett vs. Ben Saunders.

Smith was very supportive of MMA when responding to the question.

“I think that what groups like the IFL and the UFC have done for amateur wrestling, when the Olympic dream is finished, has been really good,” Smith said. “It gives some of our best athletes the chance to be professionals where there was no chance before, so I have no problem with that. The problem lies with guys who don’t finish out the once in a lifetime opportunity and cut corners to try and make the jump. If guys go as far as they can go and experience Olympic and international competition and then move on to MMA that’s great for them.

“The international aspect will actually prepare them for the professional side much better than the college side. We are seeing that more and more. It’s the guys who shortchange that goal who move on to fast that hurt both sports, and thats what we want to try and avoid. I am sure you will see guys come out of Beijing and then move on to MMA and do well. Thats the good part of the process. The ones who left early are the problem ones.”

Oklahoma State is one of the most dominant wrestling programs in the nation. It has produced mixed martial artists such as Randy Couture, Jake Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, and Shane Roller. U.S. Olympic hopeful and future mixed martial artist Muhammad Lawal is also an alumnus of the school.

USA wrestling chief Rich Bender also added that he expects the United States wrestlers to again be one of the strongest American teams in Beijing, which will be great news for MMA from a marketing standpoint in the future.

The Beijing games should be very interesting, as the major MMA promotions in the sport could be scouting them more closely than usual. If a wrestler wins gold and gains mainstream media traction out of it such as Kurt Angle, Rulon Gardner, and Matt Ghaffari in years past, there could be a tremendous recruitment process to get them involved with the sport in order to capitalize on their notoriety.

Both Ghaffari and Gardner have dabbled with MMA in Japan in the past, but never committed full-time to the sport. Angle has teased the possibility of transitioning into MMA at various points of his career, but has never made a jump.

If someone such as Lawal takes gold and begins to train full-time with the intent to debut soon after, the sport could see the birth of a new superstar almost overnight. And having someone such as Smith encourage top wrestlers to take a look at MMA as a post-college career could prove to be a huge boon for the sport.

The news was revealed earlier this morning via the official MySpace account of Dan Henderson.

According to the bulletin, Lawal will also be represented by Henderson’s Quest Sports Management, Inc. The 27-year old has been training with Team Quest for the past six months after relocating from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Lawal is expected to compete in MMA as a middleweight and will likely be a sought-after prospect based on his amateur wrestling credentials. However, his MMA debut will have to wait as Lawal intends to represent the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bejing in freestyle wrestling as a 84 kg. competitor.

Lawal was a first place finisher at the Pan American Games in 2007 and will be a strong contender to medal in Bejing. A gold medal victory could lead to mainstream attention for Lawal and garner him a lucrative offer from a major MMA promotion.