The UFC Blog

by Tom Hamlin - MMAWeekly.com

Former Pride and UFC interim heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has agreed to face former UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture at UFC 101 in August.

Though a date can’t be confirmed at this time, multiple sources wishing to remain anonymous say the unannounced card is likely to take place in Portland, Ore.

MMAWeekly.com on Thursday reported that Couture had accepted an offer to face the Brazilian, his first fight since losing the heavyweight crown to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91. Nogueira has now reciprocated, although bout agreements have yet to be signed.

Couture turned down an offer to fight Nogueira in December of 2007 after resigning from the UFC in a contractual dispute. He remained heavyweight champion through his 11-month leave, while Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia to win the interim heavyweight title at UFC 81.

Nogueira subsequently lost the title to Frank Mir in the second round of the UFC’s unofficial “heavyweight tournament,” with Couture losing his undisputed title at his UFC 91 return.

Couture was again offered a fight with the Brazilian in the first half of 2009, but an elbow surgery and obligations to the Sylvester Stallone-helmed “The Expendables” put the bout on the back burner. A widely rumored appearance at UFC 99 in Germany was also shelved due to the film.

Next month, Couture will begin filming the action flick alongside stars Mickey Rourke, Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and beleaguered California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sources indicate Nogueira may do the bulk of his fight training in Los Angeles, sharpening his boxing skills with boxing guru Freddie Roach.

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Hunger, discipline, identity—for Brandon Vera, these are the things
By: Chuck Mindenhall, UFC.com

It’s a fickle thing, mixed martial arts. In a short space of time—a year, a month, a round, a punch—a fighter can tumble from the mountaintops to the pedestrian ranks with all the empty denial of a pickpocket victim. It’s a cruel sport that way. For those who’re able to re-ascend, square one has to be looked at as the process of redefining the most abstract element of his game—the fighter’s edge.

It’s the deepest part of his motivation, it’s his driving force, and, what distinguishes it from the entire lot of technical trades, it belongs solely to him.

For Brandon Vera, this meant picking up his jump rope.

“Dude, it’s ridiculous,” Vera says from his home in San Diego. “I [messed] up in a bad way, and I’m fixing it now. I’m just bringing back the simplest things, things as simple as jumping rope.”

This is Vera’s metaphor for fighter’s edge.

A year and a half ago, Vera was an undefeated force in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having beaten Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva and Frank Mir in a combined 5:13 of Octagon time. Needless to say, the 31-year-old Vera was considered a free-swinging wrecking ball in the division. Not only was his Muay Thai world class, but he had submissions and long-range striking ability. He had menace.

A year and a half later he has lost three of his last four fights, with the lone win—a decision over Reese Andy in his light heavyweight debut this past July—perhaps his most lackluster of the bunch. As luck would have it, that fight was the catalyst for a change in his mindset; he called it an epiphany at the time. He went home that night and refigured his career, and the next day he upped his commitment.

Fighting has been a full-time occupation ever since, and getting back to basics for the man who calls himself “The Truth” has become a necessary step in his Sisyphean journey back up.

“I actually started fixing it before the Jardine fight, during that camp, the whole process” he says. “But now we’re back on track of where we were before, when I was dropping people in the first round and knocking people out.”

Vera narrowly lost a split decision against the unorthodox Keith Jardine at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, and though he thought he won the fight—just as a lot of fans did in online forums and the blogosphere—he talks about it nongrudgingly and matter-of-factly. This is quite a change from the aftermath dialogue I had with Vera after his losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum, where his words were tinged with anger and the picture of injustice was indirectly painted.

In fact, he looks at the Jardine loss as taking positive steps in identifying where he is a fighter, and in gaining more insight into what places he was still coming up short.

“It’s hard to explain, man” he says. “I’m on my way back. If I would have had a better understanding of who I needed to be that I do now, then I think the Jardine fight would have went a lot different. It was a great fight, but I can’t complain. I mean, Jardine’s a great competitor—he’s a tough bastard. I had a good time.”

Vera says he’s now comfortable as a light heavy, and that he drops his jaw whenever he catches glances of himself when he was 235 pounds in his heavyweight prime.

“I was fat as hell,” he says, unkiddingly. “I never thought I was fat until I saw pictures of myself. I was like Oooooh! Now I walk around, on my heaviest weekend, at 213. I’m digging light heavy now, yeah. I’m getting my pace to where it needs to be and weight’s not an issue at all.”

Not only feeling light, Vera is feeling reborn. Losses hurt, but if what Oscar Wilde said is true—“we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at stars”—Vera seems to be looking at stars. He’s taking whatever he’s dealt with an optimist’s sense of spring.

And the next hand out of the deck is the wild card Mike Patt, a submission specialist who is coming off a loss of his own to Tim Boetsch at UFC 88 in Atlanta. Vera (9-3) is cautious when talking about the little known Patt, saying “maybe it’s a dangerous fight, he is 15-3,” but is more concerned about what Brandon Vera does at this point.

“I’m in a position right now where I don’t care who I fight,” he says. “You just put somebody in front of me and I’ll fight. Maybe this is a good fight for me, maybe it’s a stupid fight. They [UFC] said you’re going to fight such and such, and I said okay, I’m in.”

In regaining his fighter’s edge, Vera has again taken to nomadically bouncing from gym to gym, like he did back when he was “whoopin’ people’s asses.” It helps simulate the unfamiliar.

“I like just going to unknown environments,” he says. “Going to different gyms and training with different people, you know?”

As Patt has submitted nine opponents in his career, Vera has taken up grappling with Dean Lister and two-time world champ Leo Santos at his Alliance Gym in San Diego to prepare for his March 7 bout in Columbus, Ohio—Patt’s home state. With world-class mimics, he says “I’m not worried about his Jiu-Jitsu at all.”

It does help that Eric Del Fierro is there to push his buttons, and Master Lloyd Irvin has been consulting with him weekly via the phone. Both men will be his conscience in the corner at UFC 96. These are the very people who think they see the bastard of today looking dangerously close to the bastard that was.

“It’s cool man, hearing all my training partners and everybody who’s been watching me go through the ups and downs of this sport,” he says. “They’re like, ‘Brandon, you’ve never looked like this before. Even before when you were doing good you didn’t look like this.’ And it’s coming from my family, and my training partners, and my coaches, and the people in the gym. It’s coming from the people who know me most.”

When people band around you as they have with Brandon Vera, it’s hard to tell when you’re on the downs. Maybe it’s because he has his second wind, or that he has discovered something about himself through the oft-times necessary evil of defeat. Or maybe it’s because there’s still a lot he wants to accomplish in the UFC, besides obviously scrapping for a light heavyweight championship.

Things like, as a Filipino-American, potentially fighting in the Philippines if and when the UFC goes there—a distinct possibility as the UFC expands its market.

“It’d be awesome,” he says. “I mean, to fight in front of all the dignitaries and the Filipino fans live? That’d be amazing. Especially for my folks, who’d for sure be there for me.”

First things first though, getting off to a good start to the rest of his life.

“I see this being real bad for Mike Patt,” he says. “Real bad. No matter what he gives me, I’m going to take. If you want to go to the ground, then I’m going to cut you on the ground. I’ve got three five-minute rounds to either break something on him or break something on me, and that’s how it’s going to be. It’s going to be a long night for Mike Patt.”

Not as long as the road back will be for Vera, who has a fire in his belly.

He started jump-roping again.

Former UFC® Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was at his devastating best last December as he settled his score with Wanderlei Silva via a chilling first round knockout. On Saturday, March 7, Jackson will look to move one step closer to regaining his title when he takes on the man who beat both Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine.

For the third year in a row, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® is heading back to Columbus, Ohio for UFC 96: JACKSON vs. JARDINE, live from the Nationwide Arena on Saturday, March 7, 2009. More information go to UFC.com

Quinton Jackson Vs. Keith Jardine

Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Shane Carwin

Pete Sell Vs. Matt Brown

Matt Hamill Vs. Mark Munoz

Gray Maynard Vs. Jim Miller

Tamdan McCrory Vs. Ryan Madigan

Kendall Grove Vs. Jason Day

Tim Boetsch Vs. Jason Brilz

Brandon Vera Vs. Michael Patt

Aaron Riley Vs. Shane Nelson

Bodybuilding.com will be there ring side, so get all your play-by-play fight action right here.

Georges St. Pierre DVD - Vols. 1 and 2
Sherdog.com

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Terry Etim: Don’t call me Anderson Silva just yet
By Elliot Worsell, UFC.com

One recurring theme has run through the last two UFC shows to hit England – Terry Etim is getting better and better with each and every fight. Whisper it quietly, though.

The long-limbed Liverpudlian lightweight may just be one of the most improved and exciting young talents in the UFC right now. Still only 23 years of age, Etim has now twice in a row been the talk of UFC crowds on this side of the Atlantic.

On Saturday night, the Etim love-in reached a breaking point. No longer were fans merely drooling over Etim’s potential and future hopes; he was now being compared to middleweight king and all-round destroyer Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva.

That piece of hyperbole came from the lips of none other than UFC colour commentator Joe Rogan. Though delighted to be on the receiving end of such acclaim, Etim pretends he didn’t hear it.

“That was an awesome compliment,” he admits. “You’ve just got to keep your feet on the ground with stuff like that, though. It’s nice to hear things like that, but it doesn’t actually mean I am Anderson Silva yet. I’ve got a long way to go.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s very nice what people are saying about me, but I’ve just got to get back in the gym and work hard. Every fight is just going to get tougher and tougher from this point on.”

Despite coming over all coy on the Silva comparisons, Etim admits he admires and studies the man from Curitiba, Brazil.

“I watch lots of fighters,” adds Etim, 12-2 in his own mixed martial arts career. “Anderson Silva is absolutely phenomenal. I’ve watched him for many, many years and his stand-up is brilliant. To even get mentioned in the same sentence as him is an honour.”

Anyone with two working eyes, or even one, can see the comparisons between Etim and Silva from the moment Terry whacks the inner leg of his opponent with a vicious kick. Using his lanky lightweight frame to dart in and out of range, Etim controls the distance with noisy kicks and top-notch Thai-boxing.

If you don’t trust the commendation of Joe Rogan, just ask Saturday’s opponent Brian Cobb how hard and precise Etim’s kicks are. Following a round of eating up Etim’s kicks with his own increasingly reddening shins, Cobb was then knocked out in the second stanza with a kick to the head.

“It went well, didn’t it?” recalls Etim. “I’ve been working on my all-round game and especially my Thai-boxing and it all paid off on the night.

“I wanted to use a lot of kicks to break him up. He was a bit flat-footed on his lead leg so I knew he’d eat up those kicks and not be able to do much about it.

“I knew if I landed right with one of those head kicks there was a good chance of ending the fight. I just timed it right and caught him flush.”

Despite ending matters merely 10 seconds into the second round, Etim once again put on a kicking master class. Last October the Scouse talent looked similarly impressive in whacking the dust off Sam Stout’s legs over three rounds. This time, however, Etim was even more decisive – notching the knockout win he always craves.

“I said before that fight on Saturday that I needed a big win,” he adds. “I needed a knockout win. I didn’t want to go to another decision. Sometimes even when you win well with a decision it just doesn’t feel satisfying. It’s always so much nicer to knock someone out.”

As Cobb stalked and winced, Etim quickly realised his kicks were the key to securing his second consecutive Octagon victory. Even when renowned wrestler Cobb attempted to take the fight into his domain, Etim simply pulled guard and manoeuvred himself back to his feet.

“I didn’t feel any danger when we did go to the ground,” Etim admits. “I was very comfortable there.”

Once back to their feet, the fight swayed back to Etim’s territory. When opponents are upright and in Etim’s range, very few will survive.

“Leg-kicks can change the opponent’s whole game,” explains Etim. “They make them get twitchy and start panicking. They’ll either dive in for the takedown or start dropping their hands. As you break them up with leg kicks, they start trying new things and end up giving you their head. Then you whack them in the head.

“When your game plan works out as perfectly as it did Saturday night, you’re just over the moon, aren’t you? I couldn’t contain my happiness at the end of the fight. It was easily the best win of my career and I’m just glad I was able to put on a show for the crowd and also show the UFC what I can do. That was the kind of performance I want to put on each and every fight.”

As far as Etim’s concerned, the UK crowds never seem to require much persuading. Time and time again Etim receives as big an ovation as any other fighter on the card. Already established as a firm fan-favourite, the proud Liverpudlian appears to feed off the crowd’s roar more than most.

“It was an awesome atmosphere,” adds Etim. “The crowd have always been amazing at my fights. I think they like my style and the fact I’m always looking to finish my fights. I have a lot of fans from Liverpool, but also a lot of other fans from all over the country. I was speaking to a lot of fans after the fight and they were all made up with my win. These were fans from all over the place, too, and not just ones from Liverpool.”

This embracing of all who represent Britain is a common happening at UK shows. Rather than merely supporting fighters from their own town or city, UFC fans in Britain support every British-tinged fighter as though they live next door. That can only bode well for both Etim’s future and the future of the UFC in Great Britain.

That kind of all encompassing support extends to the locker room, too.

“Before my fight (with Cobb) I watched Paul Kelly’s scrap and I was made up when he got the win,” reveals Etim. “That inspired me to go out and do a job on my opponent, and then obviously Dan (Hardy) topped it off with that great knockout win over Markham.

“All in all it was a brilliant night for the British lads and for the UFC in Britain. I think there’s going to be more and more British fighters breaking through the UFC in the next couple of years.”

Give it two more years and comparisons with Anderson Silva may not seem so pie in the sky for Terry Etim. Just don’t shout it too loud in the meantime.

By: Loretta Hunt, Sherdog.com

It’s family time for B.J. Penn, which means the UFC lightweight champion might not be back in the cage as soon as others would like.

UFC President Dana White told multiple press outlets last week that Penn’s next title defense against No. 1 contender Kenny Florian was a possibility for UFC 99 on June 13 in Cologne, Germany. However, Penn’s older brother and manager J.D. told Sherdog.com on Monday that the date is not feasible for his celebrated sibling.

“No, it’s too close to BJ’s last fight,” the elder Penn wrote in a text message. “He wants to spend time with his baby.”

Penn, 30, welcomed his first child, daughter Aeva, to the growing Hilo clan in October 2008. However, the new father spent a substantial amount of time thereafter promoting and training for his Jan. 31 mega-fight against UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 in Las Vegas.

St. Pierre pummeled Penn (13-5-1) for the majority of four rounds in their 170-pound contest until the Hawaiian’s cornermen called it quits before the last stanza. The bout’s outcome has been hotly contested by allegations that St. Pierre’s corner used Vaseline to grease the Canadian and keep him out of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s grasp. Now Penn’s camp wants their fighter to receive all the time he needs to re-group for his bout with Florian.

“We are still negotiating the fight,” the elder Penn said. “No date [is] scheduled, but we are thinking late July or early August.”

The UFC might be anxious for their talented lightweight champion to return to the division where he’s had the most success, but Penn has always moved to the beat of his own drum. Penn, who comes from a wealthy background, has been unhindered by the usual financial burdens other fighters have had to bare. In fact, the shortest time Penn has paused between fights since his return to the Octagon in 2006 has been four months, though he’s averaged closer to half-year hiatuses in all other cases.

Florian, who earned his shot at the vaunted lightweight with a tour de force first-round submission over Joe Stevenson at UFC 91 last November, said the UFC had voiced tentative plans for a June 13 showdown.

“I talked to my manager Joe Cavallaro today and [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva told him June 13,” Florian said to Sherdog.com on Monday. “That was the date they wanted because they wanted it to be the main event and the only main event. That’s what fight made the most amount of sense for June 13. July [11, UFC 100] apparently is backed up, so July’s probably out of the question, and August…”

Though it’s far from finalized and the promotion will have the final say in determining the bout’s date, an even-handed Florian (11-3) said he’d be willing to wait if he had to, especially if it meant it would produce Penn at his best.

“For me, it’s the fight that I want and it’s the fight he wants and we both need to come to terms on it, so if that’s what I need to do to make it happen, if I have to wait, then I have no choice,” he said.

Florian, 32, said he could adjust his training as needed. Still, a postponed date would effect the Boston native in a way the affluent Penn family never has to worry about.

“Schedule-wise it makes it a little difficult because money-wise, you expect a certain amount to come in and I’ve been trying to budget things accordingly,” said Florian, who earned $80,000 for his last win. “It might be a little tougher now.”

Still, the would-be challenger kept his chin up.

“Maybe they’ll say it’s in Boston,” he laughed.

Tim Leidecker contributed to this report.

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Joe Rogan will be putting on a Comedy Special March 5^th in Columbus.

UFC.com

February 19, 2009 – Comedian Joe Rogan will shoot a one hour comedy special for cable TV at The Southern Theatre in Columbus, Ohio on March 5 - two days before Rampage Jackson takes on Keith Jardine at UFC 96 in Nationwide Arena. Show times are 7:00 & 10:00 PM and tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets. Fans can read Joe’s daily blog detailing his preparations leading up to the performances at www.JoeRogan.net.

“If you have never seen Joe Rogan’s comedy show, you should go see him live March 5th at the Southern Theatre in Columbus,” said Dana White, UFC President. “His shows are fun, exciting and are always packed; this is a great night out for UFC fans headed to Columbus for UFC 96.”

An international headliner, the Guardian newspaper called Joe, “One of the most complex and exciting stand-ups working in America today.” On stage Joe explores our world with raw honesty; exuding a mad joy for life in all its insanity.

Joe’s first hour special, “Joe Rogan Live,” premiered on Showtime in 2007 and is available on DVD. He released two critically-acclaimed CD’s, “Shiny Happy Jihad” (2007-Comedy Central Records) and “I’m Gonna Be Dead Some Day” (2000-Warner Bros. Records).

Since 2002, Joe has provided color commentary for the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) on Pay Per View and Spike Television and also hosts the syndicated show, “UFC Wired.” Joe was the host of the hugely successful reality show, “Fear Factor,” for six seasons on NBC and played Joe Garrelli, the resident electrician on the hit NBC comedy series “NewsRadio.”

[Ticket Information]

In addition to having Brown vs. Garcia, the Fight Before the Fight, on Pro MMA, we’ll also break down UFC 95 in the Opening Round when FightHype’s Percy Crawford joins Pep in the Opening Round.

Before they battle for the WEC Featherweight World Championship next Sunday, March 1st, at WEC 39 number one contender Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia and the champ, Mike Brown, will both come in and let it fly here on Pro MMA Radio. Let the “Fight Before the Fight” begin!

The show airs live for a worldwide audience every Monday night at 6PM PST, 9PM EST right here on Bodybuilding.com. On Demand Replays of Pro MMA are also available here 24/7. Enjoy.

Chael Sonnen vs Demian Maia

R 1: Sonnen takes Maia, he gets up and takes Sonnen down, gets mount and locks in a triangle. Sonnen taps.

Stefan Struve vs  Junior Dos Santos

R 1: Santos throws some hard combos and it over! Struve says he wasn’t done, but he couldn’t take anymore.

Nate Marquardt vs Wilson Goveia

R 1: Both are feeling each other out not much action. Round almost over and Goveia gets a takedown and tries a guillotine. Nate pulls out gets on top and Goveia looks like hes in trouble. Round ends with NAte dominating some Ground and Pound.

R 2: A little back and forth Goveia attacks and Nate responds with a nice knee. Nate gets rocked a bit and falls to the cage but catches Goveia with a knee. Nate gets his back but can’t sink the rear naked choke.

They roll and Nate gets into Goveia’s guard against the fence and throws some nice elbows.

Goveia tiring to get up but gets caught in a guillotine, Marquardt cant sink the choke so backs away with a nice knee.
Nate is unloading and Goveia is saved by the bell again.

R 3: Goveia chases Marquardt for a second but cant do anything. Nate catches Wilson and Wilson tries to keep coming face first  and takes a flying knee, Nate capitalizes and unloads, Nate throwing everything he has (spinning back kicks, spinning back fists and some solid hooks). Wilson Goveia crumbles and the fight is stopped

Terry Etim vs Brian Cobb

R 1: Etin comes in kicking and Cobb snatches one up and they roll to the mat. Etims wraps up Cobb till they get stood up.

Etim goes right back to throwing his solid kicks and some combos, Cobb takes him down again. Same thing as before Etim just holds Cobb and they stand up again. Etim needs to get some ground skills for sure.

R 2: Cobb takes a front kick hard to his leg tehn gets caught with a roundhouse that drops him. A beautiful kick ends the fight at the start of Round 2

Josh Koscheck vs Paulo Thiago

R 1: First two minutes a boring dance. Finally Koscheck throws a hard right rocking Thiago, Thiago returns some nice front kicks, but is countered by some nice punches from Koscheck. Thiago backing up most the round.

Koscheck catches him with a nice head kick, a couple of short exchanges. Thiago drops Koscheck hard. The ref stops the fight.

Koscheck was out on his feet from a right hand uppercut and a left hook on his way down.

A disappointment for Koscheck!

Rory Markham vs Dan Hardy

R 1: After a few exchanges Hardy catches Markham, Markham falls and Hardy attacks and the fight is over.

Evan Dunham vs Per Eklund

R 1: Dunham gets Eklund down to work some ground and pound and Eklund is staying alive from the bottom. After a few more exchanges Dunham catches Eklund and its all over.

Joe Stevenson vs Diego Sanchez

R 1: Some good back and forth exchanges. Diego having more to bring but Joe throwing some nice ones as well.

R 2: Sanchez comes out in a fury with a flying knee and they go to the mat. The fight is quickly back to their feet. Sanchez throws a punch putting Stevenson in the cage, Joe gets a standing guillotine but Diego picks him and breaks it with a huge slam.

R 3: Same thing as Round 1 and 2 some exchanges, back and forth nothing spectacular or exciting yet.
The round is about done and the tow just start throwing.

It goes to the cards and Sanchez wins by unanimous.

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS

- Paul Kelly def. Troy Mandaloniz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28)

- Mike Ciesnolevicz def. Neil Grove via submission (heel hook) — Round 1, 1:03

- Evan Dunham def. Per Eklund via TKO (punches) — Round 1, 2:13

- Junior dos Santos def. Stefan Struve via TKO (punches) — Round 1, 0:54

- Terry Etim def. Brian Cobb via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:10

MAIN EVENT RESULTS

- Paulo Thiago def. Josh Koscheck via KO (punches) — Round 1, 3:29

- Demian Maia def. Chael Sonnen via submission (triangle choke) — Round 1, 2:37

- Nate Marquardt def. Wilson Gouveia via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:10

- Dan Hardy def. Rory Markham via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 1:09

- Diego Sanchez def. Joe Stevenson via unanimous  decision  — Round 3

Join UFC fighter Nate Marquardt on a typical day. Check out how he trains and what nutrition and supplementation works for this hardcore fighter.

See the video here.

Get all of tonight’s action play by play right here.

Nate “The Great” Marquardt was born a fighter, he started training martial arts as a teen in many disciplines. He trained BJJ, Kickboxing, Kenpo, as well as taking lessons in wrestling. He now sits with an impressive record of 30-8-2, and is looking to make that 31-8-2 tonight against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 95.

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Check out more UFC coverage on the Bodybuilding.com UFC Main Page here.

UFC 95 is tonight!!!

Famed photographer Isaac Hinds got to spend a day training with Nate "The Great" as he prepared for his next fight against Wilson Gouveia.

See all the photos here.

Get all your UFC action right here.

For more information on UFC 95 click here.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® returns to London with one of the most intriguing matches of the new year as exciting welterweight contender Diego Sanchez makes his lightweight debut against former world title challenger Joe Stevenson! More!

Show starts at 9pm ET/PT on Spike TV. Follow the fight play by play right here.

Joe Stevenson Vs. Diego Sanchez

Paul Kelly Vs. Troy Mandaloniz

The weigh-ins for UFC 95 happend at Dominion Theatre in London, England today with all 20 fighters making weight.

Below is a list of the fighters:

MAIN CARD (Televised)

Diego Sanchez (156) vs. Joe Stevenson (155)
Dan Hardy (170) vs. Rory Markham (170)
Wilson Gouveia (185) vs. Nate Marquardt (185)
Demian Maia (184) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Paulo Thiago (169)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

Junior dos Santos (239) vs. Stefan Struve (240)
Brian Cobb (155) vs. Terry Etim (156)
Paul Kelly (169) vs. Troy Mandaloniz (168)
Mike Ciesnolevicz (235) vs. Neil Grove (263)
Evan Dunham (154) vs. Per Eklund (155)

Check back tomorrow for live play-by-play of the whole event.   Check out the preview here and more UFC 95 coverage at:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/UFCblog/category/mma/ufc-95/

WW

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® is proud to announce its first-ever event in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City has never seen hard-hitting action like this as many of the rising stars in the sport of mixed martial arts will be featured in a LIVE nationwide event on Spike TV Wednesday, April 1 at 9:00p.m. ET/PT for UFC® Fight Night™ from the Sommet Center. UFC.com

Official UFC Hotel
or call 800-327-6618, tell them your a “UFC fan” and get a special discount.

Carlos Condit Vs. Martin Kampmann

Efrain Escudero Vs. Jeremy Stephens

Ryan Bader Vs. Carmelo Marrero

Junie Browning Vs. Cole Miller

Tyson Griffin Vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Ricardo Almeida Vs. Matt Horwich

Brock Larson Vs. Jesse Sanders

Jorge Rivera Vs. Nissen Osterneck

Rob Kimmons Vs. Joe Vedepo

Tim McKenzie Vs. Aaron Simpson

Get all you UFC 95 action right here.

UFC 97 to remain in Montreal on April 18
By: Jesse Holland, mmamania.com

UFC 97 “Redemption,” which is scheduled to take place from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on April 18, will remain in Canada after UFC officials were apparently able to convince the Quebec Athletic Commission (QAC) that the show must go on or it would be moved elsewhere, according to CKAC Sports Radio 730 AM and reported on CorusSports.com.

Despite the success of UFC 83 that was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 19 of 2008 and the potential millions of dollars that would be pumped into the Canadian economy, the QAC was originally steadfast on the mixed martial arts rules that have been in place, yet rarely enforced.

The Quebec regulations, which appear to have been ignored for over seven years, forbid elbow and knee strikes, judo throws, slams and even call for a downed fighter to get a chance to recover with his opponent sent to a neutral corner.

The old administration of the QAC was reportedly tolerant of the use of North America’s Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. That apparently went out the window along with most of Mel’s Studio after a near riot at the Titans Fighting event held on February 6.

In the main event against Steve Bosse, James “The Colossus” Thompson immediately went for the takedown and rattled off some textbook ground and pound - despite a supposed agreement to adhere to the old rules of Canadian MMA that disallowed ground attacks.

The crowd reacted violently in disapproval, showering the cage with bottles and debris. The show was halted and both fighters and Referee Yves Lavigne ran for their lives.

That incident had apparently prompted the QAC to spring into action and start doing things by the book — effectively putting the kibosh on UFC 97. However with millions of dollars at stake and over 22,000 fans who already purchased their tickets, it appears an exception has been made — at least for now.

Aside from banning foot stomps, details of the arrangement are not yet available, but a press conference is expected later today to make it official.

UFC 97 will feature middleweight champion Anderson Silva, putting his 185-pound title on the line against number one division contender, Thales Leites. In the co-main event, Mauricio Rua — fresh off his less-than-thrilling victory over Mark “The Hammer” Coleman at UFC 93 — will challenge former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.