MMA Junkie is reporting that Matt Lindland and Trevor Prangley are set to face off against one another at October’s Affliction: Day of Reckoning event. Lindland’s original opponent, Vitor Belfort, had to pull out of the fight due to a hand injury.

Lindland’s last fight came at Affliction: Banned where he took a unanimous decision victory home over a very game opponent in Fabio Negao. Many thought that Lindland would steamroll Negao but Negao was able to give Lindland some trouble on the feet during the fight and was able to sustain a deep guillotine attempt, which is Lindland’s bread and butter submission, in the first round. Lindland was able to pull out the victory and knock off the ring rust from not fighting for over a year.

Prangley will now face off against Lindland at the event. Prangley is a long time veteran of the sport and has fought some of the biggest names in the middleweight division. He holds wins over fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Yuki Kondo, Travis Lutter, and Matt Horwich and has fought against several other top level fighters as well.

Prangley is also a former BodogFIGHT middleweight champion and at one point had been rumored to be set to defend his crown against Lindland, a former Olympic silver medalist in Greco Roman wrestling. However, financial problems pertaining to the new-defunct fight promotion prevented the proposed bout from ever being finalized.

A planned ShoXC event that had been scheduled for June 27 at the Sycuan Casino and Resort located just outside of San Diego has been postponed.

Mauro Ranallo was the first to break the story earlier this week on his Fight Network Radio program heard Monday through Friday on Sirius Satellite Radio.

According to sources, the outdoor event was postponed when the venue was unable to be secured. It is believed that EliteXC officials are looking to re-schedule the event.

The show was supposed to feature striking specialist Cyrille Diabate and Judoka Hector Lombard making their EliteXC debuts in separate bouts. King of the Cage middleweight champion Keith Berry had also been scheduled to defend his title against Reggie Orr.

EliteXC’s next ShoXC event is scheduled for June 27 at the Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, Calif.

The news was first reported by our friends at MMAjunkie.com.

The tentative card for the outdoor show also promises to offer the debuts of two recent EliteXC signings, middleweights Cyrille Diabate and Hector Lombard.

Diabate, one of the best pure strikers in MMA, is slated to take on Jaime Fletcher in a featured bout on the card. Meanwhile, Lombard, a standout Judoka from Cuba, does not yet have an opponent.

Also, in a first for ShoXC, a King of the Cage title will be defended on the card. Current KOTC middleweight champ Keith Barry will square off against Reggie Orr. You might remember Orr from the current season of “The Ultimate Fighter“, as he was chosen to be a part of the show’s 32-member cast. However, he was unable to advance into the TUF mansion and the official cast of 16 after he was defeated in a qualifying match.

According to Junkie, Fabricio Camoes and Debi Purcell are also slated for the card as well against yet to be determined opponents. Purcell had been scheduled to take on Carina Damm in a 130 pound bout, but Damm was removed from the card after the California State Athletic Commission announced that she had recently tested positive for steroids. Junkie is quoting EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw as indicating that Purcell could have to fight a replacement that is actually tougher than Damm.

Australia-based mixed martial arts promotion Cage Fighting Championship has announced via its official website that Hector Lombard, the promotion’s current middleweight champion, has signed with ProElite-owned Elite Xtreme Combat.

EliteXC has yet to confirm CFC’s announcement.

Lombard had previously been reported as signing a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and had been officially announced by the UFC as fighting Karo Parisyan at UFC 78 this past November. However, Lombard, a Cuban national who resides in Australia, was eventually replaced by Ryo Chonnan after visa issues prevented him from entering the United States.

Lombard, a renowned Judoka, is 15-2-1 and has competed for various international promotions during an MMA career that spans four years. Most notably, Lombard fought two bouts for the Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, compiling an 0-2 record. He lost a unanimous decision to Akihiro Gono in his debut for the promotion at Pride Bushido 11 in June of 2006. He then returned to Pride at Bushido 13 in November of 2006, losing in another unanimous decision, this time to Gegard Mousasi, the occasional striking coach for Fedor Emelianenko.

No indication of a start date with EliteXC for Lombard was made in the CFC announcement, however, he will make at least one final title defense for CFC when he faces Fabiano Copoani at CFC 4 on May 23.

It is unknown whether Lombard will be allowed to fight in the U.S. after having been denied entry late last year. It is possible that he has or will become a naturalized citizen of Australia. It’s also possible that he could fight for one of ProElite’s international brands.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that the UFC was unsuccessful in their attempt to get Hector Lombard a working visa and that his match against fellow Judoka Karo Parisyan scheduled for UFC 78 on Nov. 17 has been canceled.

The UFC has elected to also cancel the Thiago Alves vs. Ryo Chonan match and will move Chonan up to the main card to fight Parisyan in Lombard’s place. Alves will remain on the preliminary card and fight Chris Lytle. So for now, talks of a possible move to the WEC for Lytle are on hold.

It was reported yesterday that Hector Lombard, Karo Parisyan’s UFC 78 opponent, was unable to obtain a work visa to fight in New Jersey next month. The Fight Network is now reporting that Lombard is still on the roster:

UFC officials confirmed with The Fight Network yesterday that Hector Lombard (11-2-1, 1 NC), scheduled to face fellow Judoka Karo Parisyan at Nov. 17’s UFC 78 in Newark, N.J., has not been removed from the roster after a report surfaced yesterday that Lombard could not gain entry into the U.S. for the bout.

Cuban-born Lombard, who represented in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has been unable to secure a visa for the east coast engagement, but his management with Team Quest’s Murrieta, Calif. location is hopeful their client will receive an alternate work visa in time.

Let’s hope this guy gets his work visa. I want to see these two world class Judokas throw down inside the Octagon. Don’t count on it, though.

I do have a beef with this topic, however. How do you sign a guy when you don’t even know if he can get into the country to fight? Wouldn’t you think they’d have known about this? This one’s all on the UFC if Lombard doesn’t end up making the UFC 78 card.

UFC 78 has added one match, but might have llost another. Former PRIDE lightweight standout Marcus Aurelio will take on Luke Caudillo (source: The Fight Network). Aurelio hopes to rebound from his decision loss earlier this year to Clay Guida. This lightweight bout should take place on the undercard however due to the below news, it might get moved up to the televised portion of the event.

For the second time in as many tries, the UFC might have an opponent for Karo “The Heat” Parisyan fall through. They originally went after Hayato Sakurai for Karo’s opponent, but that deal couldn’t get done. Now it looks like Hector Lombard will not be able to hop over the US border. According to Sherdog, Lombard has been denied access to the United States, based on the fact he only has a Cuban passport.

“I’m not going to get my visa,” Lombard said while speaking with Sherdog. “I only have a Cuban passport, so I’ve been told it’s impossible for me to migrate.

“I went to the American embassy twice and they said no to me both times.”

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda…” that’s how best to describe what is happening to UFC 78.

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

You know what I love so much about covering MMA? There’s never a shortage of news to cover. Here are some stories that are being reported around the ‘Net:

- Loretta Hunt from The Fight Network spoke with John Hackleman, the trainer for Chuck Liddell, who says he’s unaware of any retirement talk. In fact, he not only claims Liddell told him he’ll be back in the gym next Monday, but didn’t rule out a December fight for Liddell:

“He’s already said he’ll be back in the gym next Monday,” said Hackleman, who has coached Liddell for 16 years. “He’s going to fight again, hopefully as soon as possible, maybe in December. We’re looking at ‘Shogun.’”

- It was revealed during the UFC 76 post-fight press conference that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s hand injury worsened during his UFC 75 title defense against Dan Henderson and that he’s unlikely to fight again in 2007. It doesn’t look like the UFC can fall back on a Forrest Griffin vs. Rampage UFC light heavyweight title match for UFC 79 on Dec. 29.

- According to John Pollock of The Fight Network, Karo Parisyan has confirmed he’ll be fighting Judoka standout Hector Lombard at UFC 78 in Newark, NJ.

- MMAJunkie.com broke the news that Dean Lister’s opponent at UFC 79 on Dec. 29 could very well be Jordan Radev, the dude who got wrecked by Drew McFedries at UFN 10.

- UFCDaily.com is reporting that Doug Evans will be fighting in a preliminary match on the UFC 79 undercard on Dec. 29.

- According to this week’s print edition of The Wrestling Observer, BodogFIGHT welterweight champion Nick Thompson is having contract issues with the company. He’s one of the most underrated fighters in the world right now (right up there with Jon Fitch) and would be a tremendous addition to any fight promotion’s talent roster.

- In case you missed it, Ricco Rodriguez confirmed on Inside the Cage Radio with Matt Cava and I this past weekend that he’s still under contract to EliteXC (although a debut match has not been scheduled) and that he plans to continue to fight at heavyweight for the time being. His ultimate goal in the next year is to fight at light heavyweight and he also challenged former friend Tito Ortiz to a catch weight fight at 225 lbs.

- In a previous interview with me for CBSSports.com earlier in the year, Joe “Diesel” Riggs claimed he was transferred from the WEC to the UFC per his request. During Inside the Cage, he indicated that was not actually the case and that the idea was actually pushed on him by Zuffa. Riggs has signed what he believes is a five fight contract with Strikeforce and he’ll make his debut for the promotion this Saturday at the Playboy Mansion against 41-year old Eugene Jackson. It’s a non-exclusive deal but he needs to get permission from Strikeforce to fight outside of it (hey, how about Riggs vs. Nick Diaz II?). Riggs also confirmed there’s a chance he could fight Cung Le if he beats Jackson but said that while he wouldn’t mind fighting Le, he’d love to fight Frank Shamrock.

- I came across this interview via a story on MMANews.com, but in an interview with IronLife.com, Pride lightweight Joachim Hansen indicated he is still technically under contract to Zuffa through the Pride acquisition but there are no immediate plans to fight for the company. It appears they don’t want to use him under his existing deal, and wanted to re-negotiate his contract for less money:

They offered me a fight some months ago – I wasn’t sure if they had bought Pride for what the hell was going on. They offered me a fight against Marcus Aurelio, they offered me half the salary of what I got in Pride. Obviously at the time they had already bought Pride, in my opinion they also bought my contract, so how can they offer me half the salary?

- According to The Fight Network, NSAC officially decided not too suspend Renato “Babalu” Sobral following his extended choke on David Heath following their match at UFC 74 on Aug. 25. However, he will not receive the $25,000 win bonus that the commission decided to withhold, which means he’s been fined $25,000 in essence. All because a guy called him a mother fucker?

- According to MMAjunkie.com, Jake O’Brien, who underwent what what considered at the time to be possible career-ending back surgery, will resume training next year.

The Fight Network is reporting that DEEP veteran Ryo Chonan could be in the mix for the UFC’s UFC 78 card in Newark, NJ this November. No official announcement has been made.

TFN is also reporting that Karo Parisyan has confirmed that the UFC is in negotiations for him to fight either Hector Lombard or Hayato Sakurai at UFC 78.