If you’d like to read my fight preview and predictions for tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night 11 at MMAjunkie.com, just click here.

The UFC held a combined conference call for the media today in regard to both UFC Fight Night 11 next Wednesday on Spike TV and UFC 76 next Saturday on pay-per-view.

Involved with the call were Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine and Kenny Florian. Dana White and Din Thomas had been advertised for the call but did not attend. UFC PR rep Jennifer Wenk indicated that White was on another call. At one point they thought he might be able to join in later in the call, but that wasn’t the case. There was no word on why Thomas was not available.

There was nothing all too earth-shattering, but here’s a general rundown of several things the fighters said:

(to read the rest of this article, just click here)

The big news coming out of today’s combined UFC 76/UFN 11 media conference call was that Dana White was not on the call even though he had been promoted before hand as being involved. According to Jennifer Wenk, the UFC’s PR director, Dana was on another call.

Din Thomas was also not available even though he had been advertised. Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, and Kenny Florian were all on. There was nothing Earth shattering coming out of the conference. I reported on it for MMAjunkie.com and my notes on it should be available there soon.

MMAOnTap.com reported last night that Mike Swick has pulled out of his upcoming fight against Jonathan Goulet scheduled for UFC Fight Night 11 on Sept. 19 at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

MMAWeekly.com was able to confirm the report with American Kickboxing Academy instructor “Crazy” Bob Cook. According to the site, Swick injured his ribs during training.

The injury to Swick leaves the main portion of the card sans one fight. Still scheduled for the main card are bouts between Din Thomas vs. Kenny Florian, Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin, and Nate Diaz vs. Junior Assuncao.

If the UFC feels it needs a fourth match for the show, they can choose from a preliminary card that’s slated to include fights between Cole Miller vs. Leonard Garcia, Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Thiago Alves, Nate Quarry vs. Pete Sell, Luke Cummo vs. Edilberto de Oliveira, Gray Maynard vs. Joe Veres, and Goulet vs. TBA.

My vote for a fourth TV bout would go to Hironaka vs. Alves but I’d also be real curious to see Quarry vs. Sell.

Sorry for no updates yesterday, I was up in New York on business and didn’t get back until late.

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Spencer Fisher is off the UFC Fight Night card on September 11 due to staph infection. Kenny Florian has been moved from the UFC 78 card in order to take Fisher’s spot against Din Thomas.

That’s going to be a very strong match.

Also, staph has apparently spread like wildfire at MFS in Davenport, Iowa as reports indicate that both Tim Sylvia and Drew McFedries have it as well.

Ouch.

Spike TV has issued a press release officially announcing that the next Ultimate Fight Night is set to take place Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

The release covers a lot of matchups we’ve already reported on, however, it’s been announced that Nate Quarry will be making his return against Pete Sell and Cole Miller will also be fighting on the preliminary portion of the card, against Leonard Garcia (nice matchup!).

Here’s the official release:

New York, NY, July 31, 2007 – For The Ultimate Fighter^® alumni Din Thomas (Season 4), Nate Diaz (Season 5 champ) Chris Leben (Season 1) and Mike Swick (Season 1), the Ultimate^® Fight Night^™ on Spike TV Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT will provide a golden opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a nationally televised audience. Each fighter is facing a tough test with the winners moving up the UFC^® ranks and another step closer to a title shot. The two-hour live fight card will take place live from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.

Din Thomas (23-7) may have gained national recognition on Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter last year, but the 30 year-old fighter was already well-known to mixed martial arts fans with a resume including an impressive win over current welterweight champ Matt Serra at UFC 41 in 2003. Now, the American Top Team product out of Port St. Lucie, Fl. looks to ascend the lightweight ranks against Spencer “The King” Fisher (21-3). The 31 year-old Team Miletich fighter from Bettendorf, Iowa earned national acclaim when he won a hard-fought decision over Canadian Sam Stout on Spike TV in June.  With three wins in his last four UFC fights, “The King” is inching closer for a shot at the UFC lightweight throne.   

A bold personality from Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris “The Crippler” Leben (16-4), was a rising star in the UFC with five straight victories until his career was sidetracked by a devastating stoppage at the hands of current middleweight king, Anderson Silva, last June. Leben, fighting out of Gresham, Ore., has lost two of his last three bouts, and is desperate for a win against Chicago’s Terry Martin (18-2). The 26-year-old Martin, working toward a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC including a first round TKO over Ivan Salaverry at UFC 71 in May.

   The Ultimate Fighter 5 champ Nate Diaz (6-2) gets his first big opportunity as a UFC fighter against the tough Atlanta-based Junior Assuncao (6-2). Diaz was awarded a six-figure multi-fight deal with the UFC when he defeated Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their nationally-televised bout in June.  Diaz will look to use his impressive array of submission skills against the hard-charging Assuncao.   

Mike Swick (10-2) was on the fast track to a UFC title shot with a five-fight winning streak since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 1 with wins over vets David Loiseau and Joe Riggs.  However, the talented 28-year-old fighting out of San Jose, Calif. lost a decision in a three-round war to Yushin Okami at UFC 69 in April.  Now he is dropping down to welterweight to fight Canadian Jonathan “The Road Warrior” Goulet (19-8), who trains with UFC star Georges St-Pierre, and is making his fifth appearance on a Spike TV fight card. 

The undercard will also feature prominent The Ultimate Fighter alumni as Gray Maynard (Season 5) takes on Joe Veres, Cole Miller (Season 5) battles Leonard Garcia, and Pete “Drago” Sell (Season 4) takes on Nate Quarry (Season 4).

UFC welterweight Luke Cummo has announced via his MySpace page that his next fight will be on September 19 at UFC Fight Night 11 in Las Vegas. According to Cummo, he’ll be fighting Brazilian-born Ediberto Crocota.

Roman Modrowski is reporting in his latest column for the Chicago Sun-Times that Chicago-area resident Terry Martin has signed a bout agreement to fight Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 11 on September 19 at the Pearl of the Palms.

Here’s Modrowski’s report:

Chicago’s Terry Martin signed a contract Monday to fight Chris Leben on Sept. 19 at the Palms in Las Vegas in a ”Fight Night Live” on Spike TV. ”Leben will sit there and bang with me, so this is perfect for me,” Martin said. ”He’s a big name, and it’s going to be on Spike, so it will be free and more viewers will see it.”

There’s no confirmation in the report as to whether Leben has in fact signed his bout agreement and there’s been no official announcement from the UFC.

The report is rather intriguing because Mike Swick made a recent claim in his blog that Leben turned down a chance to fight him at UFC Fight Night 11.

If this report is in fact true, it should be a very good matchup and one would assume it will make the telecast.

To read Modrowski’s full article, just click here.

Mike Swick has gotten on his blog and given his side of the story as to why a rematch against Chris Leben on September 19 at UFN 11 won’t be taking place. In the process, Swick also shifts his attention from Leben to Jonathan Goulet.

Here’s what Swick had to say:

Hey Guys,

Ok, so here is the deal…

Chris Leben said something about moving down to 170 and the UFC thought it would be a great time to have us fight. I was offered the fight and we accepted it immediately. We even told the UFC that we can do it at whatever weight class; I will give up weight if I have to get it done. So they were going to make our fight the Main Event of Ultimate Fight Night 11 on Spike TV on September 19th. Spike was excited about the fight, the UFC was excited about the fight, the fans were excited about the fight, and most of all, we were excited about the fight. Apparently Leben and his camp wasn’t. After almost a week of waiting for an answer he declined the fight at any weight class. This absolutely baffled me. We figured he was pondering what weight he wanted to fight me at and he was really pondering taking the fight at all. Is this the same guy who says he will fight anyone, anywhere, anytime? The same guy that promised me a rematch on the second episode of the first season of the Ultimate Fighter? Why would he pass up a main event fight considering he is coming off 2 losses? Who gets opportunities like that then passes them up?

I don’t mean to rant on but I am so upset at the situation. He has a win over me from a long time ago and holds it over my head any chance he gets. I think it’s absolutely cowardly to not give me a chance to avenge my loss. It’s not like I am asking for an instant rematch, it’s been over 3 years. If he’s better than me then why not take the fight and show the world in a main event on Spike TV?

Bottom line is, I am sorry to all the fans who wanted to see this fight. I was so excited over this last week and couldn’t wait to come to an agreement so I could post that after 3 years, you guys will finally see the rematch you msg me about every day in my inbox.

Ok, so even though the cat smashing crippler backed out, I am still staying on the Spike card on September 19th. This brings me to a whole new story for you guys….

Ok, so after hearing about the above mentioned backing out, Jonathan Goulet started trash talking me on the internet saying I chickened out of a fight with him as my next opponent. This caught me completely off guard since I never even knew he was in the equation. Or the UFC for that matter. Apparently he had been trying to get the fight from the UFC. I guess I can’t blame him, he is a very talented fighter who really wants to revamp his UFC career and a solid fight with me on Spike could do that, but what shocked me most was his blatant lie that I chickened out. Of course he followed that up with something along the lines about I don’t want what he’s got for me and that he is going to beat my ass, etc, etc, etc….

Since the other opponents we were trying to get an agreement with fell through, why not fight Goulet? I mean he is a good fighter and at least has some juevos. So Jonathan Goulet, let’s see if you can back up all that tough talk. Contract is in the mail, just sign the dotted line and let’s give these fans what they…well, get for free on Spike TV!

-Swick

I wonder if the contract is really in the mail. Swick wants the fight and Goulet wants the fight. But why would the UFC want this fight?

I’d much rather see Terry Martin vs. Swick. The UFC needs to start grooming some contenders for the middleweight title — and fast!

MMAWeekly.com had added a bout between Roger Huerta and Alberto Crane to its rumors section under the card for UFC 74 on August 25.

UFCJunkie.com is also reporting that Nate Diaz’s opponent at Fight Night 11 on September 19 in Junior Assuncao.

UFCJunkie.com has gotten exclusive word from Mike Swick that Chris Leben has refused to sign for a match against him that would have made the two the main event of Ultimate Fight Night 11 on September 19.

According to Junkie, here’s what Swick said:

“He backed out. He didn’t take it. It kind of sucks with how tough he talks about fighting anyone, anywhere. He kept saying we could rematch anytime.”

What’s Leben doing? Anything short of injury is going to make the UFC very unhappy with Leben’s decision. He’s not really in a position to be choosy when it comes to who the UFC would like him to face.

One of his biggest selling points was his willingness to fight just about anybody. This is going to hurt his stock. I have to wonder though if this might be an injury situation of some sort, though.

If Leben doesn’t want the match then they should book Terry Martin vs. Swick. I think that would be a pretty good matchup. Just to clarify, I don’t have any info on that. Martin vs. Swick is just pure conjecture on my part.

According to GraceFighter.com, Nate Diaz will be fighting for the UFC at Fight Night 11 on September 19. Curiously, the site is reporting that UFC 11 will take place in Atlanta, GA.

Atlanta?

Here’s what GracieFighter.com is saying:

After winning the TUF Finale, Nathan Diaz will now be returning to the UFC. He is slated to fight on the 19th of September in Atlanta, Georgia. His opponent has not yet been named, however we should have an official confirmation sometime next week.

According to UFCJunkie.com, TUF 3 welterweight runner-up Luke Cummo has indicated on the forums at his web site (LukeCummo.com) that he’s been granted a request by the UFC to be added to the Ultimate Fight Night 11 card on September 19. He has not indicated who his opponent will be as of yet.

Junkie is also reporting that TFN 11 will be on 9/19 instead of the previous reported 9/20 date. TFN 11 will be serving as the lead-in to the sixth installment of The Ultimate Fighter. The 9/19 date indicates that Spike TV and the UFC are planning to move TUF from Thursdays to Wednesdays.