The UFC is not the only subsidiary of Zuffa to have recently recruited several former fighters from the now-defunct International Fight League, as multiple reports indicate that light heavyweight Alex Schoenauer has been signed to the promotion as a replacement for Mark Munoz against Steve Steinbeiss at WEC 36 on Sept. 10.

He joins Bart Palaszewski, L.C. Davis, and Wagnney Fabiano as IFL refugees that have been recently added to the WEC roster.

In addition to having competed in the IFL, Schoenauer also appeared on the first-ever season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series in 2005. He competed for the UFC during the live season finale of TUF 1 on April 9, 2005, suffering a knockout loss at the hands of Mike Swick at just 20 seconds of round 1.

Schoenauer is 14-9, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, and last competed in April, where he recorded a split decision over Brendan Barrett during an IFL show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. He holds notable victories in his career over Allan Goes and Travis Wiuff.

It also appears as if WEC newcomer John Franchi is off the card as well with Jonathan Brookins reportedly now slated to face Jose Aldo.

WEC 36 will emanate from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. and will feature Urijah Faber defending his WEC featherweight title against Mike Thomas Brown along with WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho defending his crown against Chael Sonnen.

The Brazilian magazine Tatame is reporting that the IFL’s last remaining champion, Wagnney Fabiano, has signed a contract to fight in WEC’s featherweight division. Fabiano apparently is already thinking about the current WEC featherweight champion, Urijah Faber:

“Faber is the best of the world now. To beat him, I think you have to be in a good shape. He’s an expert fighter and he has a good gas, it’s complicated to beat a guy like him. You have to set a good game plan and be calm and watch the elbows, because if he hits you it can change a whole fight”, said the Nova União athlete.

This is a great move by Fabiano who is extremely underrated at 145 lbs. He is one of the most dynamic fighters in the entire weight class with an outstanding ground game, solid striking, and as he showed in his last fight, knockout power. He most recently defeated highly touted Shad Lierley in his only title defense in the IFL, knocking him out cold in the first round with a right hand that connected right on the button.

I don’t think Fabiano poses a legitimate threat to Urijah Faber at this point but it is definitely a fight that I would love to see. If the WEC knows what’s good for them, and it seems they do, they will give Fabiano a couple of warmup fights and then build to a Faber vs. Fabiano title fight. No matter what the outcome it’s highly likely that the fight will be an exciting one. Great signing for WEC as they are now really establishing themselves as the premier league for the lighter weight fighters.

A battle between former UFC lightweight competitors Jens Pulver and Leonard Garcia has officially been added by World Extreme Cagefighting to the undercard of its Sept. 10 event featuring Urijah Faber defending his WEC featherweight title vs. Mike Thomas Brown.

The event, which will emanate from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Holly, Fla. will also featured WEC middleweight title defense by Paulo Filho against Chael Sonnen.

Other matches officially announced Wednesday by the WEC include former NCAA champion Jake Rosholt taking on American Top Team black belt Danillo Villefort, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. “Razor” Rob McCullough, Rani Yayha vs. Yoshiro Maeda, Ed Ratcliff vs. Danny Castillo, Tim McKenzie vs. David Avellan, and former NCAA champion Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov.

This could be the WEC’s deepest card in history from top-to-bottom.

Former NCAA champion Mark Munoz will not be able to fight as previously scheduled during the WEC’s next scheduled show on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

The news was revealed earlier in a report by MMAWeekly.com.

According to MMA Weekly, the former Oklahoma State competitor if off the card vs. Steve Steinbeiss due to an undisclosed injury.

Steinbess, who trains out of Trevor and Todd Lally’s Arizona Combat Sports, could remain on the card against a new opponent.

The WEC’s Sept. 10 event, to be televised on VERSUS starting at 9 p.m. ET, will feature two title fights involving WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber taking on Mike Thomas Brown and WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho squaring off against Chael Sonnen. Former NCAA champions Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendricks are scheduled to make their debuts as well.

Sherdog.com is reporting that Jeff Curran announced this past weekend during the opening of a new school in Crystal Lake, Ill. that one of his Team Curran member and lightweight competitor Bart Palaszewski has signed a six-fight contract with the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.

Palaszewski had been a staple of the International Fight League’s 155 pound division before it closed operations in recent months. Compiling a 8-4 record in the IFL, Palaszewski was perhaps best known for his rivalry with Chris Horodecki. Despite going 0-2 head-to-head against Horodecki, Palaszewski fought him tough both occasions, losing via split decision in each fight.

Palaszewski had been in the midst of a three-fight losing streak before recording a second round TKO over former UFC fighter Jeff Cox during Adrenaline MMA’s inaugural show on June 14. Now on a winning track, Palaszewki is excited about the prospect of competing in the WEC.

“I think I match up very well with a lot of guys in the WEC; they’ve got a lot of strikers and I think I’m going to put on some phenomenal wars,” Palaszewski is quoted as saying by Sherdog. “If I get two really good shows, really good fights against ranked opponents, I think I’ll be able to get a title shot.”

The WEC lightweight division is anchored by champion Jamie Varner and includes contenders such as former champion “Razor” Rob McCullough, Richard Crunkilton, Alex Karalexis, Marcus Hicks, Ed Ratcliff, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, and Shane Roller.

While speaking during the opening of his new fight gym in Crystal Lake, Ill. this past weekend, WEC competitor Jeff Curran made the announcement that he will be dropping down to promotion’s bantamweight division, according to an article on Sherdog.com.

Nicknamed “The Big Frog,” Curran is 30-10-1, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. He has competed for PRIDE, the IFL, and King of the Cage promotions in the past. Since returning to the WEC under Zuffa’s ownership, he has posted a 1-2 record.

After recording a unanimous decision victory over Stephen Ledbetter in his WEC debut at WEC 29, Curran fought WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber at WEC 31, where he tapped out to Faber in the second round due to a guillotine choke. He returned at WEC 34 in June, where he lost a unanimous decision to Mike Thomas Brown.

Curran is ranked as a top-ten featherweight by most of the top major websites but still believes that a move from 145 pounds to 135 pounds makes sense.

“I think that the fast pace and the real high technical level is a great fit for me,” Curran is quoted as saying. “The talent pool in that division is sick.”

The division’s talent pool currently includes WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres and top contenders such as former champion Chase Beebe, Brian Bowles, Manny Tapia, Yoshiro Maeda, Damacio Page, Antonio Banuelos, and Scott Jorgenson.

WEC 35 was about as successful as an event can be from a fighting quality standpoint and was about as successful as it could be from an attendance perspective.

According to information forwarded to FiveOuncesOfPain.com by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, WEC 35 this past Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino had just two tickets that went unsold or unused.

The total paid attendance for the event was 734 for a total paid gate of $116,9000. In addition to the two unsold tickets, there were 272 complementary tickets for the event distributed.

With the WEC continuing to expand its presence and roster of talent, the days of running shows in the intimate confines of the Hard Rock could be nearing an end.

Is it possible for Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting to have a bad card?

Sunday night was yet another shining example of why the WEC is the best representative of our sport to the mainstream public. Despite being held in a small concert venue at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, WEC 35 looked like a major league event: strong production; fast pacing; a display of a variety of fighting styles; and compelling matchmaking.

With four fights guaranteed for the telecast and three of them being title fights, the WEC still managed to squeeze in six total fights in a telecast that clocked in just slightly over two hours. Thanks to an early-arriving crowd in attendance to see a strong undercard, the insertion of bouts between Josh Grispi vs. Micah Miller and Brock Larson vs. Carlo Prater in the live telecast looked seamless and appeared as if the bouts were airing live when in reality, they were being shown on a tape-delay basis.

VERSUS was able to show the two additional bouts because they ended early, but that is just typical of the WEC: everything breaks right for them during their shows.

Well, maybe not everything, as one of its most marketable fights, Brian Stann, suffered an upset to Steve Cantwell, losing the WEC light heavyweight title in the process. Stann, a retired Marine lieutenant and Silver Star recipient, had defeated Cantwell in convincing fashion close to a year and a half ago. However, a much-improved Cantwell was well-prepared for Stann’s dangerous, but limited, offensive arsenal.

“No disrespect, but he does need to mix it up more,” Cantwell said during his post-fight interview with commentator Todd Harris. “He did exactly what I thought he was going to do.”

Stann is still new to the sport and there were existing questions about his ground game. After last night, there are now questions about his standup. No one can question Stann’s punching power and his chin, but he lacked the diverse striking skills that Cantwell put on display.

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The past four weeks have been insane when it comes to all of the shows we’ve seen in MMA. It seems like with each passing week the audience becomes a little more burned out. As much as I love the WEC, at some point you need a break.

That being said, tonight’s card on VERSUS (9 p.m. ET, check local listings for channel listing) is too good to miss with three title fights scheduled.

I actually intended to get this preview out earlier but there has just been too much going on. Without further delay, here is a television preview of tonight’s show from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura for Condit’s WEC welterweight title - Condit is one of the most underrated fighters in the game right now and has one of the most intense game faces you’ll ever see in the sport. Nicknamed the “Natural Born Killer,” Condit truly has the look of a killer on his face while entering the cage. There’s mean muggin’ before a fight, and then there is a stare of death. Condit has the latter as opposed to the former.

Undefeated in the WEC at 4-0, there’s not a welterweight fighter currently on the roster that can hang with him, and that includes Muira, who is making the move down from middleweight. Upon entering the WEC, Condit was known primarily as a submission specialist. All four of his wins in the WEC have come via submission but his striking has made major improvements and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him test it tonight vs. Miura.

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World Extreme Cagefighting has been very active as of late when it comes to signing new talent and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned that undefeated featherweight prospect John Franchi is the latest to be added to the WEC roster.

Franchi has signed a five fight deal with the promotion, according to Gary Marino of GVM Sports Management, speaking to Five Ounces of Pain.

Trained by his co-manager, Ryan Ciotoli of Bomb Squad MMA in New York, Franchi will make his WEC debut on Sept. 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. against Jose Aldo.

The Northeastern-based Franchi made his pro debut on October 27, 2007, defeating Richard Miner via first round TKO while competing under the Extreme Fighting International banner in Springfield, Massachusetts. He improved his record to 2-0 last year when he submitted Brian Conrad on a Full Force Productions show this past December with an armbar at 2:15 of round 1.

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L.C. Davis is the latest former IFL fighter to find a new home with Zuffa, according to a report by MMAjunkie.com.

Davis, who competed as a featherweight in the IFL, will be fighting for the WEC on Aug. 3 against Hiroyuki Takaya. Davis is replacing Cub Swanson, who is off the card due to a broken hand sustained during training.

Davis is a product of legendary MMA trainer Pat Miletich’s Miletich Fighting Systems in Davenport, Iowa. He is 10-1 overall and posted a respectable 3-1 record in the IFL. Davis began his career with a 9-0 record before suffering his first loss during the IFL’s World Grand Prix finals this past December after submitting to an armbar in the first round against current IFL featherweight champion Wagnney Fabiano.

Takaya is 9-5-1 overall, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, and he is 0-1 in the WEC after losing his debut at WEC 32 this past February following a first round TKO against Leonard Garcia. He holds notable victories over the likes of Hatsu Hioki and Antonio Carvalho as well as notable losses to Andre “Dida” Amade, Gesias “JZ” Calvancante, Genki Sudo, and Gilbert Melendez.

The WEC’s show this Sunday will be headlined by three title matches, with WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann defending against Steve Cantwell; WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit taking on Hiromitsu Miura; and Jamie Varner making his first-ever title defense of the WEC lightweight belt in a bout against Marcus Hicks.

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Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has been out of action since his September 2007 loss to Forrest Griffin. Shogun had knee surgery shortly after the fight. Apparently, the operation didn’t clear up all the problems.

Shogun just had another knee surgery,” said Dana White.

Not knowing exactly what the surgery is for, it’s hard to speculate how bad Shogun’s knee is, but what White said next is definitely positive news for Shogun fans.

I believe Shogun will back this fall.”

Should Shogun get back into the octagon in a few months, the leading candidate for an opponent may very well be Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou challenged Shogun shortly after defeating Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84. The fight would seem to make sense for both fighters as a way to elevate one of the them into the title picture. The loser would have some work to do to rebuild himself, but it probably wouldn’t end their UFC run.

USA Today caught up with injured UFC light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua during this past Saturday’s UWC event in the Washington D.C.-area.

According to writer Sergio Non, Rua indicated to him that he believes he will be fully recovered from his ACL surgery by either October or November.

Rua had been scheduled to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 in London this June, but he had to bow out after aggravating the injury. Rashad Evans was tapped as a replacement against Liddell but Liddell recently pulled out of the fight due to a hamstring injury.

Rua believes that a fight between he and Liddell will happen before year’s end.

A much-anticipated light heavyweight showdown between Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to take place at UFC 85 on June 7 in London is no longer scheduled to take place, according to Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com.

Rua was forced to pull out of the fight after re-injuring his surgically repaired knee. The injury has been officially diagnosed as a ruptured ACL in his left knee and will require a second surgical procedure.

It was not reported as to when Rua aggravated the injury. However, Rua’s name was not mentioned as Liddell’s opponent when UFC 85 was promoted this Saturday ’s pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 82 from Columbus.

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MMAMania.com has learned that UFC Welterweight contenders Mike Swick and Marcus Davis will more than likely be squaring off at UFC 85 on June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Davis has strung together an impressive win-streak, finding victory in all of his last 11 bouts. His last loss came at the hands of Melvin Guillard at The Ultimate Finale 2 in November of 2005. In recent interviews, “The Irish Hand Grenade” has made mention of his desire to take some fights against more well-known opponents. Mike Swick should be a formidable opponent for Davis, both in high-status and a higher skill level than Davis is used to facing.

Mike Swick recently made the drop in weight from Middleweight after falling short against Yushin Okami at UFC 69: “Shootout”. He made a less-than-stellar Welterweight debut against Josh Burkman at Ultimate Fight Night 12 in January, but still found victory after a controversial split-decision. He must perform impressively against Marcus Davis to cement himself as a major contender in the UFC Welterweight division.

There is plenty of motivation for both of these fighters heading into this bout. Look for a possible “Fight of the Night” candidate, even amidst the main event between Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Chuck Liddell talking about his fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports Blog at the Houston Chronicle:

“He’s a good fighter … had a great career in Pride, and I’ll be glad to show him again why UFC is better than Pride. I have the edge in the standup game and the wrestling game, too. His submission game is decent, but I don’t think I’ll have a problem with his submission game, either.”

Remember that one time when Chuck Liddell and Dana White went to PRIDE to try to show the world that he and the UFC were better than PRIDE’s fighters? And then he ran into a buzzsaw by the name of Quinton Jackson and lost? I vaguely remember something like that happening. Everyone needs second chances, I guess. Now Chuck is really going to prove to you that the UFC’s fighters are better. Chuck can drop the whole PRIDE versus UFC garbage because it no longer matters, if it ever even mattered in the first place.

What we should focus on, however, is that it’s damn hard to pick against Chuck Liddell given his last performance in the Octagon, a victory over long time nemesis Wanderlei Silva. Shogun is younger than Wanderlei and probably all around better than Wanderlei, but the fact is that he fights with roughly the same style. He may throw more straight punches than Wanderlei but Liddell matches up with him very nicely style wise. It will certainly be interesting to see how this fight unfolds and it should be exciting either way, but I will be hard pressed to pick against Liddell.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell was quoted in an SI.com interview yesterday saying his next opponent could be Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Today, Rua is quoted on Tatame.com as confirming he’s signed on to fight “The Iceman”:

“I confirmed this fight yesterday. Everything is set to June and I hope to make a great fight and represent well my new team, the Universidade da Luta (Fight University)”

The UFC event in June is tentatively scheduled for the UK. Liddell has been quoted as saying the event is too far and he’s hopeful the fight will be moved to Vegas on May 24.

While Rua trains with a new team in Brazil, he still intends to defend the honor of his former camp, the famed Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil:

“Certainly I’ll revenge Wanderlei”, affirmed the athlete, who is hoping to make an exchange with Wanderlei to the fight. “He passed in Curitiba (Brazil) very fast and went to Natal (Brazil), but he call me and we talked a lot. We’re going to make an exchange yes, but I still don’t knowing when it’s going to happen. Everything depends in which strategy my team will set for this fight”

Interesting matchup. It’s hard to not to pick Liddell coming off his stellar performance against Silva at UFC 79.

One other question; does Liddell vs. Shogun mean we’re also going to see Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva?

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, former UFC light-heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell stated that his next opponent possibly would be former Pride standout, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

SI.com: So what’s next for you? Have you been told your next opponent?

Liddell:Possibly Mauricia “Shogun” Hua. That’s what they’re saying. If it’s the June fight, it will probably be in London. But my trainer is trying to get it moved to Vegas. Too far. (Liddell is based in San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

This is good news for Keith Jardine who was looking for a while as being Liddell’s next opponent, which would’ve been a bit harsh considering he had already beaten Liddell decisively in his last fight.

The only problem I have with this match-up is that I would have liked to have seen Shogun get a warm up fight before he was tested again. I guess you could say Griffin was meant to be his warm up fight but as we all know, it didn’t work out that way.

The June/July date speculated by Liddell could very well coincide with a UFC event headlined by a title fight between current light-heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and TUF 1 winner Forrest Griffin. If so, this bout would most certainly be booked as the co-main event.

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Not a lot of official information has been released about the UFC’s upcoming card in Montreal on April 19, but if some of the rumors and reports floating around become true, Canadian fans attending the show live could be treated to a strong show.

The UFC has not formally announced it, but all indications is that the show’s main event will consist of a welterweight title match between Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre.

Additionally, The Fight Network reported on Wednesday that Rich Franklin and Travis Lutter could meet in a middleweight match.

Now comes words that both Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Sean Sherk could be booked for the show as well.

GracieMag.com quotes Rua as saying the following:

“I’m already preparing for my return, I’ll fight on April 19th. Ninja and Dida go back in March. I’m injury free and with none of the pains in my knee that bothered me so, I’ll devote my entire day to fighting and I’ll be 100%. I’ll do my best to give back to my fans.”

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Rudimar Fedrigo, one of the top guns at Chute Boxe with Rafael Cordeiro, has released a statement confirming the departure of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Murilo “Ninja” Rua from the Curitiba-based fight camp:

We regret very much the departure of Murilo and Mauricio Rua, they are fighters brought up in the team and left to start their own team in the USA. We’d like to remind them that the doors to Chute Boxe shall always be open for both of them and we wish them luck and success in their new endeavors.

While I understand that the fight promotion aspect of MMA in Brazil is doing quite well, it’s still sad to see that the landscape regarding some of its top fight camps has been completely altered.

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