The match-up was announced earlier today through the UFC’s website.

The 7-4 Cantwell’s change in weight-classes comes after losing three straight decisions with an eighteen-month injury break in the mix too. Prior to the stretch the 24-year old had won four consecutive fights including a TKO of Brian Stann at WEC 45 and brutal submission against Razak Al-Hassan.

Massenzio has had some decent success as a middleweight with past victories over Drew McFedries and Dan Miller but has dropped his last three fights in the Octagon. However, perhaps providing him a little leeway in terms of career stability, the New Jersey native took a fight with Soszynski at UFC 131 only a few days out from the event and still went the distance despite an obvious size disadvantage.

Their meeting in Houston adds to an already stacked UFC 136 lineup including a pair of championship clashes with lightweight Frank Edgar defending his belt against Gray Maynard and 145-pound phenom Jose Aldo taking on former lightweight contender Ken Florian.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Well according the MMA Junkie, that may not be the case. Sources close to Al-Hussan have informed them that he has accepted a bout versus Cantwell at “UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fights for the Troops” and that they are waiting for Cantwell to accept the bout.

Both fighters will be making their UFC debuts with Al-Hussan having made a name for himself on regional shows in the Midwest, compiling a 5-0 record in professional MMA with three of his five victories coming via submission. 

Cantwell, who is 6-1 in MMA with his only loss coming to Brian Stann, is coming off an upset victory over Stann via secound round TKO in a rematch at WEC 35 this past August. In winning that fight, Cantwell won the WEC light heavyweight title from Stann. However, the title reign was short lived as WEC’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions are being slowly folded into the UFC. Cantwell and Stann were two of the first fighters to appear in the UFC from WEC’s ranks.

A victory for either fighter would go a long way toward cementing their place within the UFC and a win for Cantwell could possibly set up a tiebreaker fight with Brian Stann sometime in the near future.

Stann and Cantwell first clashed at WEC 26 in March of 2007 with Stann winning via TKO in just 41 seconds into round 1. Stann would go on to claim the WEC light heavyweight title and made his first defense against Cantwell at WEC 35 on August 3. This time around, it was Cantwell who got the win, becoming the new champ following a second round TKO.

No word on a possible replacement for Stann is known at this time.

The show, which will be broadcast on Spike TV, will be a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to deceased and wounded U.S. military veterans.

David Terrell has been officialy released from his UFC contract. He first debuted in the UFC back in August of 2004 where he shocked the MMA world with a vicious knockout win over heavily favored Matt Linland in the early seconds of the 1st round. He then lost a title fight against Evan Tanner and then rebounded by beating Scott Smith in April of 2006.

Unfortunatelty that was the last we saw of Terrell fighting in the Octagon. Plagued by injuries and unhappy with the financial terms of his bout agreements, Terrell sat out the remainder of his contract. Now focused on getting his career back on track, Terrell will be looking to signing and fighting with another organization.

Terrell had been scheduled to return at UFC 78 this past November against Ed Herman. However, he pulled out of the fight after injuring his ankle during training and was replaced by Joe Doerksen.

GracieFighter.com is operated by Cesar Gracie, who is Terrell’s MMA trainer. Terrell is also one of only two people to receive black belts from Gracie, with Nick Diaz being the other. The report on the site confirms rumors that had been circulating which suggested that Terrell was unhappy with his contracted pay from the UFC. There were even those close to Terrell who believe that he would have competed in spite of some of his injuries had he been happier with his pay.

The report on Gracie Fighter also makes it clear that Terrell wants to continue his MMA career with another organization. The odds-on favorite is EliteXC, which already has a relationship with Gracie through deals with Diaz and Jake Shields.

Newer fans will be unfamiliar with Terrell because he’s competed just once during the “TUF era,” but let me tell you that at one point he was ticketed for stardom in the sport. Name an athlete in a mainstream sport that had All-Star potential but never reached that level because of durability issues, and that’s David Terrell.

Doerksen is an MMA veteran who has had many fights against top class opponents such as former welterweight champion Matt Hughes (loss), Denis Kang (win), Matt Lindland (loss) and Nate Marquardt (loss).

Also of note is that Doerksen already holds a win over Herman back in 2004 via 3rd round triangle choke. I also found it funny it was listed as a technical submission, which implies Herman, “went out like a man, rather than tapping like a bitch.”

This replacement will mark another unfortunate moment in Terrell’s promising career where he has had to pull out with injury. Examples of other cases were potential match ups with Yushin Okami at UFC 62 and then again at UFC 66.

David Terrell (6-2, 2-1 UFC) has not fought in Mixed Martial Arts competition since April of 2006 where he submitted Scott Smith by rear-naked choke at UFC 59.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has confirmed through its sources that Terrell is in fact off the card due to what was termed as a severe ankle injury that was sustained during training.

This is yet another in a long line of setbacks that has limited the talented middleweight to just one fight in the last year and a half. Terrell first took the UFC by storm in 2004 when he upset Matt Lindland at UFC 49 when he knocked Lindland out in just 24 seconds into round one.

Terrell did not fight again in the Octagon until UFC 51 in 2005, losing to Evan Tanner via TKO. He rebounded with a win over Scott Smith in 2006 at UFC 59, submitting Smith with a rear naked choke at 3:08 of round 1.

Terrell had been scheduled to make his UFC return on Nov. 17 against Ed Herman at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. There is no word as to whether a replacement has been named.

All indications are that he was truly motivated for the fight as he dropped a lot of weight in preparation for the bout. Unfortunately, an MRI revealed torn tendons and Terrell has been walking with the aid of crutches since the injury.

The match with the most appeal to me is Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar. Both have already participated in match of the year candidates (Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 and Fisher vs. Sam Stout at UFC Fight Night 10) and because their styles could mesh well, you have the potential for another match of the year candidate for both fighters.

It appears talks between Hayato Sakurai and the UFC have broken down as Sakurai is scheduled to fight in Japan but the UFC has found a suitable opponent for Karo Parisyan in Hector Lombard. Lombard, who represented Cuba in the Olympics in Judo, is 11-2-1 in MMA and has competed for promotions such as PRIDE and DEEP.

By putting Parisyan vs. Lombard, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva is throwing two world class Judokas together in a match that will be extremely competitive. Parisyan, who is a tad small for welterweight will be facing a fighter in Lombard who has competed at times as a middleweight. Will Karo be able to rag doll Lombard like he has so many of his other opponents? It will be interesting to find out.

Thiago Alves vs. Ryo Chonan is yet another strong matchup that’s been rumored for the card. If the UFC welterweight division wasn’t so backlogged then the bout’s outcome would have greater implications. However, who really needs implications? Just sit back and watch what looks to be another potential strong match.

Lombard and Chonan aren’t the only former PRIDE fighters that will be making their UFC debuts, as Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory is expected to take place. While the match might not be televised, fans attending live could be in store for a surprise. Gono, 27-12-7, will be a tough test for the undefeated 20-year old.

Other rumored matches that could take place during the non-televised portion are Ed Herman vs. David Terrell and Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt. Lauzon is originally from Massachusetts so expect strong crowd support for him while Terrell vs. Herman is a match I can’t wait to see. The middleweight division in the UFC could use a shot to the arm and Terrell could be what the doctor ordered.

One of only two people to ever be promoted as a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu by Cesar Gracie, Terrell looked like a future star following his 24 second first round knockout over Matt Lindland at UFC 49 in 2004. Unfortunately, he’s been besieged by injuries and has fought just twice in the last three years. I’m looking forward to attending the show live and seeing first hand if Terrell is someone who can make an impact under the UFC’s current middleweight landscape.

If you’re one of the people who has chosen to use “sucks” as a way to describe the rumored lineup then I suggest you go to Netflix and start renting old PRIDE DVDs so that you can become more familiar with Lombard, Chonan, and Gono as well as some old UFC DVDs (i.e. UFC 49) to either introduce or re-introduce yourself to Terrell.

In regard to the lack of star power, have a little faith in Dana White and Silva. Tickets for UFC 78 go on sale to the general public this Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. The UFC wants to do well from a business perspective and it behooves them to deliver a solid main event. Rumors persist that we could see a rematch between Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans but if Ortiz is playing hardball or his back is still not ready, then the UFC will come up with something else. Rumors about a match between Ortiz and Dan Henderson have been debunked but it appears as though the idea was at least explored. If Ortiz can’t be secured and Henderson is ready to go, then why not a match between Henderson and Evans?

On paper, UFC 78 might end up not having a lot of sex appeal but didn’t we learned from UFC 73 and UFC Fight Night 10 this year? It’s all about matchups and UFC 73 taught us that just because you have a bunch of big names all on a card, it doesn’t mean you’re going to see good matches if the fighters’ respective styles don’t mesh well. Meanwhile, UFN 10 showed us not to underestimate a card just because it doesn’t have a big name.

So please, leave UFC 78 alone!

• Michael Bisping vs. Rashad Evans
• Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
• Karo Parisyan vs. Hector Lombard
• Frank Edgar vs. Spencer Fisher
• Ed Herman vs. Dave Terrell
• Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt
• Tamdan McCrory vs. Akihiro Gono

We’ll keep updating as fights get signed…

Get UFC 78 ticket information HERE

Read Sam Caplan’s rant on quality this fight card HERE

Check out more UFC 78 content on 5 Oz. of Pain.

First, UFC 76 will be a full nine-match card after all. Fresh off his IFO win earlier this month, Rich Clementi is back in the UFC and back in action against Anthony Johnson. The two will face off on the UFC 76 undercard on Sept. 22 in Anaheim, Calif.

That’s a pretty damn good last-minute addition match.

It also looks like another match has been added for UFC 78. While not official, it has appeared in the MMAWeekly.com rumors section and that rumors section is pretty damn good. According to the site, David Terrell will finally return to the UFC and will be taking on Ed Herman.

Hey, it’s no main event but it’s pretty damn interesting.

I’m really looking forward to UFC 78 on Nov. 17 in Newark because it’s not all that far from Philly (where I live) and having the UFC back in the Northeast has been a long time coming. The card itself isn’t all that bad, either.

Here’s what we could be looking at:

- Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans (hasn’t been officially announced but a recent newspaper report indicated it’s going down)

- B.J. Penn vs. TBA (my money is on Joe Stevenson for the title)

- Karo Parisyan vs. TBA (could be Hayato Sakurai, could be Hector Lombard, could be someone else)

- Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar (Dana should give them the match of the night bonus right now)

- David Terrell vs. Ed Herman (rumored)

- Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt (according to Reinhardt)

Tito, B.J. and Karo all on the same card offers a lot of star power to the Philly, New York, and Jersey fanbase. This part of the country loves recognizable stars. If you’re not a known quantity, you might not get much attention. If I go to a concert in Philly everyone marks out for the headliners. But the opening band could be the greatest in the world but if the people don’t know their name, the crowd seems pretty bored.

Hey, what does a guy have to do to get a Big Nog vs. Andrei Arlovski match added to this card?

From a fighting perspective, the past 2 years have been hard ones on David Terrell. The Gracie Jiu-jitsu Black belt has endured a string of injuries that have kept him out of the cage. Forced to sit on the sidelines he has instead been focusing on a successful school he runs out of Santa Rosa, California. Meanwhile the sport of MMA has exploded onto the American market in ways no one envisioned just a few years ago.

Now injury free and wanting a piece of the pie, Terrell eyes a return to fighting. This time however he seems determined to fight at the 205lbs weight limit instead of his recent 185 lbs. outings. The drastic weight cut to 185 proved too demanding and often left him drained of energy and susceptible to sickness. We should see Dave back in the UFC at the new weight mark later this year and those of us who know him can’t wait.

Terrell was once a top prospect in the UFC before all the influx of new talent as a result of all the seasons of TUF. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his career and it will be interesting to see if fighting at 205 lbs. will allow him to be more durable. It will also be interesting to see how he holds up against bigger fighters in the light heavyweight division.

Also, David Terrell is not the same guy as Dave Terrel, who fights for Zuffa in the WEC.