News of the November 19 match-up was officially revealed through a Bellator press release where both men commented on the impending pairing.

“Both of us are going to get in that cage and throw bombs, no questions asked,” stated Prangley “It’s no secret both of us like to stand and bang, and that’s exactly what everyone is going to get. I know Hector is really tough on his feet, but so am I, so he’s going to have to play my game when the cage door shuts.”

Lending weight to Prangley’s statements on toughness are both his record (23-8-1) and the fact he’s only been stopped by strikes twice in a decade-long career while picking up wins along the way over the likes of Matt Horwich, Travis Lutter, Keith Jardine, and Chael Sonnen.

However, he has yet to face an opponent with stand-up as dynamic as Lombard’s who has sixteen TKOs to his credit. The American Top Team product has also avoided defeat for more than five years with a 23-0-1 record over the period.

“I just want November to get here and knock someone out,” the explosive Cuban explained. “I doesn’t matter who it is, I just want to do what I do and that’s win. I don’t know much about Trevor, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll be in front of my fans in Florida, and it’s going to be a show.”

Bellator 58 is also expected to host the conclusion of the promotion’s Season 5 Middleweight Tournament with semifinalists Bryan Baker, Brian Rogers, Vitor Vianna, and Alexander Shlemenko facing off next weekend at Bellator 54 to determine who will fill the final two slots.

PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR/SHARK FIGHTS

However, it looks as though signing with Strikeforce has finally cured the infrequency of his appearances in the cage, and fans may finally start having some answers in terms of how far Gracie can go in MMA.

According to a report first broken on MMARising, Gracie will look build off his win over Kevin Randleman this past May against seasoned veteran Trevor Prangley at Strikeforce’s upcoming show on January 29 in San Jose.

The bout marks the first time is his career he will have fought twice in the same twelve-month span, while comparably his opponent will enter the match-up with 10X the in-ring experience including career wins over Keith Jardine and Niko Vitale, as well as accomplished submission-grapplers like Travis Lutter and Matt Horwich. Additionally, Prangley has only been tapped twice in his career with his last loss via submission coming almost six years ago.

On top of Gracie’s attempt at continuing to live up to his last name, the card in question is also expected to feature a title-fight between middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and devastating striker Rob Lawler, as well as Herschel Walker in action and rumored appearances by Jason Miller, Tim Kennedy, and Nick Diaz.

Jardine found himself on the wrong side of a split-decision to opponent Trevor Prangley at the event after being dropped early with strikes, then battling back in the bout’s closing moments with a late flurry leaving Prangley somewhat stunned but ultimately unfinished. As a result of the outcome, the 15-9-1 Greg Jackson staple has now notched losses in five consecutive bouts and in seven of his last nine in-ring appearances.

His opponent, Prangley, improved his record to 23-6-1 with the performance and is now 6-1-1 in his previous eight bouts.

Like Jardine, fellow light heavyweight Houston Alexander found himself in trouble during his respective bout’s opening frame but was more successful at overcoming the damage sustained. Alexander appeared to be fighting on fumes after absorbing a few clean shots from Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou early in the fight. However, the tables quickly turned in the second round, as Alexander put Sokoudjou on the canvas with a series of punches against the cage and eventually pounded him out for the TKO win.

The victory brought Alexander’s record to 11-6 while Sokoudjou is now 9-7 in his career.

Here is a complete list of results from Shark Fights 13:

Eric Davila def. Pete Spratt via Submission Round 2 (Guillotine Choke)
Daniel Straus def. Karen Darabedyan via Unanimous Decision
Aaron Rosa def. Devin Cole via Unanimous Decision
Ronnie Mann def. Douglas Evans via Split Decision
Paul Bradley def. Johnny Rees via Submission Round 1(Rear-Naked Choke)
Tarec Saffiedine def. Brock Larson via Unanimous Decision
Danillo Villefort def. Joey Villasenor via Unanimous Decision
Paul Daley def. Jorge Masvidal via Split Decision
Houston Alexander def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO Round 2
Trevor Prangley def. Keith Jardine via Split Decision

Comparably, Masvidal weighed in at 168.75 pounds and will be looking for a second consecutive win by beating the powerful striker. He is 20-5 in his career and most recently won a split decision over Naoyuki Kotani last April.

The evening’s main event between Keith Jardine and Trevor Prangley had no such stumbling blocks with both fighters actually coming in below the “205″ mark. Jardine registered in at 204.5 pounds, while sometimes-middleweight Prangley came in at 202.75 pounds.

Here is a complete rundown of results from the Shark Fights 13 weigh-in:

Pete Spratt (170.25 lbs) vs. Eric Davila (176.5 lbs)*
Karen Darabedyan (155.75 lbs) vs. Daniel Straus (152.75 lbs)
Devin Cole (233.25 lbs) vs. Aaron Rosa (241.75 lbs)
Paul Bradley (170.5 lbs) vs. John Reese (169.25 lbs)
Douglas Evans (144.25 lbs) vs. Ronnie Mann (144.75 lbs)
Brock Larson (170.75 lbs) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (169.75 lbs)
Joey Villasenor (185.5 lbs) vs. Danillo Villefort (184.5 lbs)
Paul Daley (171.75 lbs) vs. Jorge Masvidal (168.75 lbs)**
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204.5 lbs) vs. Houston Alexander (202.25 lbs)
Keith Jardine (204.5 lbs) vs. Trevor Prangley (202.75 lbs)

* – Spratt agreed to a catch-weight bout with Davila
** – Daley will forfeit 10% of his “show” pay to Masvidal for the infraction

Jeremy Horn

The event took place at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.

Horn managed to submit Jason Guida in the first round with a tight arm triangle, recording his 106th victory and second straight first round submission in the process.

Beerbohm battered Josh Martin with a brutal series of elbows  on the canvas that opened multiple, deep gashes on the Bellator veteran, and ultimately brought a conclusion to the bout just minutes into the contest. Beerbohm extended his undefeated record to 13-0 with the win.

Following the bout Lyle took the opportunity to call out current Strikeforce lightweight title holder Josh Thomson, who was in attendance, perhaps scouting a future opponent.

Prangley made it four in a row when he stopped Dennis Reed early in the first by knockout, making a return to either Strikeforce or the UFC very likely for the South African born middleweight in the near future.

• Fancy Pants fans make sure to check back later with 5 Oz’s as Lyle Beerbohm is currently hard at work penning an exclusive fighter blog on his experiences on this most recent TKO victory.

“I’m going back to 185,” said Prangley, “I weighed in at 203 without cutting. I want to go back to where I should be.”

Prangley was slated to face Matt Lindland in the ill-fated Affliction show that was scheduled for October. Lindland and Prangley have been rumored to be fighting for a couple of years now – ever since they were both working with BodogFight. Prangley still has his sights set on that specific match-up.

“I’d love to fight Matt Lindland. The guy has been ranked in the top 10 for how many years now? Seems like almost since MMA began,” Prangley said.

With a possible match-up against Lindland a few months away, Prangley wants to keep busy in the meantime.

“I hope I am on (the Affliction show). I’d like to be,” said Prangley, “I am going to get try to get on the next Strikeforce show in November or try to fulfill one of my fights with Dream. Either way, I want to fight again before the Affliction show.”

The San Jose-based fight promotion revealed the news via a press release Tuesday morning.

Prangley will replace Renato “Babalu” Sobral in a light heavyweight match against Anthony Ruiz in a rematch between the two fighters. Sobral was forced to pull off of the card due to injury.

Prangley and Ruiz first met at Strikeforce’s “Tank vs. Buentello” event that featured Paul Buentello knocking out MMA pioneer Tank Abbott at 0:43 of round 1 on Oct. 7, 2006. Prangley was also victorious on the card, submitting Ruiz at 4:42 of round 1.

The former UFC veteran had been scheduled to compete during Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” event on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas against Matt Lindland but he became available to fight for Strikeforce after last week’s announcement that the event had been postponed until Jan. 17.

Prangley, a native of South Africa, has not competed since participating in Strikeforce’s single-night, four-man middleweight tournament last November.

Sobral’s original opponent was Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth. Southworth also pulled off the card due to injury and was replaced by Ruiz, a veteran of both Strikeforce and EliteXC.

Ruiz’s last bout was a win against Jeromy Freitag in a non-televised undercard bout during EliteXC and CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights” on July 26. The victory marked the third time Ruiz has defeated Freitag in his career.

Prior to the Freitag bout, Ruiz challenged Southworth for his title, losing a unanimous decision on June 27 during a Strikeforce show in San Jose that was televised on HDNet. He earned the title shot after defeating Southworth via TKO due to a cut in a non-title affair last November.

In addition to Prangley vs. Ruiz II, “Strikeforce at the Mansion II” will feature Kazuo Misaki vs. Joe Riggs, Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson in a non-title bout vs. Ashe Bowman, Terry Martin vs. Cory Devela, and DREAM star Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Justin Wilcox.

MMA Junkie

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

- 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.

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.