MMA Universe

The third time will hopefully be the charm for Jon Fitch (19-3) now that up-and-coming welterweight Mike Pierce (10-1) has agreed to step up and face him at UFC 107 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 12.

Pierce was originally slated to meet Josh Koscheck at UFC Fight Night 20 until “Kos” was promoted to the UFC 106 co-main event opposite Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

Like Pierce, Fitch was left without an opponent when Ricardo Almeida injured his knee and withdrew from their UFC 106 bout on Nov. 21. Zuffa worked a little magic and booked him in a rematch of former number one welterweight contenders opposite Thiago Alves on Dec. 12; however, “Pitbull” also went down with a knee injury and was forced to bow out.

Fitch returned to the Octagon at UFC 100 to exact revenge against submission specialist Paulo Thiago, taking the contest via unanimous decision. The Brazilian stunned his good friend and American Kickboxing Academy training partner, Josh Koscheck, with a fight-ending first round uppercut at UFC 95: “Sanchez vs. Stevenson” earlier this year.

The Purdue University wrestler now boasts 10 victories for the promotion in 11 attempts. The lone blemish on his record is to welterweight deity Georges “Rush” St. Pierre in their championship match from UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in Aug. 2008.

And the competition isn’t getting any easier.

Pierce recently stunned quite a few fans in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 19, registering a convincing unanimous decision over the super tough Brock Larson. It was just the third loss in Larson’s impressive career. And it marked six straight wins for the surging Pierce.

Despite his recent success, Pierce will no doubt be a heavy underdog on fight night when he gets locked inside the cage opposite the 11-fight UFC veteran.

UFC 107 will feature a main event between lightweight division champion, BJ Penn, defending his title against number one division contender, Diego Sanchez. In the co-featured fight of the night, former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir will “begin his quest for a third title” when he takes on Cheick Kongo.

To check out the latest UFC 107 fight card and rumors click here.

NEW YORK (Oct. 31, 2009) – DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix Champion Marius “Whitemare” Zaromskis (13-3) of Lithuania has signed a multi-fight agreement with world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion Strikeforce.

Known for his explosive, highlight reel kicks, the 29-year-old, world-ranked Zaromskis has been his opponents’ worst “Whitemare” the last three years. The 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix Champion has won five fights in a row and nine of his last 10.

Zaromskis is coming off an utter destruction of Myeon Ho Bae, winning by 0:19, first-round KO on Oct 25. The victory earned Zaromskis the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix crown.

Remarkably, it was the third consecutive time Zaromskis won a fight with a head kick in the opening round. On July 20, 2009, he defeated both Jason High (2:22) and heavily favored Hayoto Sakurai (4:03) with head kicks to win DREAM’s 170-pound tournament.

Zaromskis turned pro on Feb. 4, 2000. He fought several times for UK-based Cage Rage before joining DREAM in early 2009.

Two of his three losses came against former Cage Rage British champion in Che Mills.

Strikeforce in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network, Showtime. Next Saturday, November 7, Strikeforce will make its live debut on CBS with its “Fedor vs. Rogers” mega-fight that it is co-promoting with M-1 Global.

It wasn’t really a huge week in MMA business, but here are some of the bigger news items of the last few days.

 - Machida needs surgery, out of 108

The bad luck continues for the UFC as they won’t be able to capitalize on the heated controversy that was Machida-Rua I, with an immediate rematch.

- Anticipation building for Fedor vs. Rogers on November 7th

CBS/Strikeforce have released a series of promo commercials in the past week in order to help build the fight.

- Legalization moving forward; Rhode Island ready, Massachussets soon

It’s expected that Massachussets will get the final seal of approval from the govener by the end of November.

- Lesnar out of UFC 106

The bout has tentatively been rescheduled for UFC 108, but who’s to say when he’ll be back at 100%. Carwin also divulged that he’d been suffering from H1N1 early in the training camp.

- UFC 104 Predicted Buyrate: 398,000

Using regression analysis across two variables, MMAPayout.com has predicted a buyrate of 398,000 for the event.

- ProElite purchased for $2 million

Stratus Media Group, looking to diversify their holdings, acquired the organization. Time will tell whether they can effectively leverage their own experience to make the organization successful.

Happy Halloween, Maniacs. Here’s our customary holiday sweet treat.

It’s open thread and discussion time. Feel free to go bananas in the comments section below, posting news, sharing links, telling bad jokes … whatever. As usual, please do your best to keep it relatively clean and MMA-related.

Enjoy the day and have fun.

After running through the competition in Glory Fighting Championships and Midwest King of the Ring, Zack Micklewright (6-0) has landed a five-fight deal with the WEC and an opponent on the promotion’s year-end card.

Muhsin Corbbrey (7-4) is set to welcome the undefeated youngster to the promotion’s lightweight landscape at WEC 45: “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff” from “The Pearl” at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 19.

Corbbrey debuted in the WEC on Oct. 10 at WEC 43, losing via technical knockout to Anthony Njokuani. It marked Corbbrey’s second loss in a row, as he lost to Nick Diaz this past June in the now defunct Elite XC.

Corbbrey’s record isn’t astounding, but the way he fights makes him a solid asset for the WEC. He has only gone to the judges scorecards twice and is always looking for a slick submission finish.

Micklewright earned his spot on the WEC lightweight roster with an impressive 6-0 record, with his most recent win a submission (strikes) victory over Jaxon Mayson at Glory Fighting Championships 6 back in April.

Like Corbbrey, Micklewright is an exciting fighter who would rather leave it out of the judges hands. His debut was the only time he went the distance in a fight. However, Micklewright’s time in smaller promotions has come to an end, as he has been given a shot with one of the top promotions in mixed martial arts.

The WEC will be a true test for this 155-pound wrecking ball.

WEC 45 will be headlined by a lightweight brawl between Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for breaking news on the WEC’s last card of the 2009 fight season.

Jake Shields (28–4–1) is one of only a handful of mixed martial artists who have managed to become stars domestically fighting outside the UFC.

To the casual MMA fan his name may not be all that familiar … yet. On the other hand, the hardcore fans and media know full well he’s one of the top fighters in the world regardless of what organization he’s currently fighting for.

The 30-year-old is currently on a 12-fight win streak that dates back to November 2005, which includes victories over quality opponents such as Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Mike Pyle, Nick Thompson, Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler, among others.

His last fight against Lawler under the Strikeforce banner was at a catchweight of 182 pounds as he began his transition from his natural weight class at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds to the 185 pound middleweight class to pursue bigger fights.

The man standing in his way of making it 13 in a row is a very seasoned, very dangerous Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22–6, 1 no contest).

The fight will be for the vacated Strikeforce middleweight championship formerly held by Cung Le, which Le won by defeating Frank Shamrock way back in March 2008, but he never once defended it because has been more involved in the movie business than mixed martial arts.

As a result, Shields and Mayhem will collide at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., for the title on Nov. 7. The event will be broadcast live on CBS to a massive nationwide audience.

A victory for Shields would add another belt to his growing collection that includes championships in Rumble on the Rock, Shooto, and EliteXC. A loss would send him back to the drawing board to evaluate his options as he inches closer toward the end of his current fight contract.

Shields took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about a wide range of subjects, including the possibility of going after two Strikeforce belts, avoiding nicknames, the signing of Herschel Walker, Mayhem Miller, and UFC champion Georges St. Pierre.

Check it out:

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What was your take on the Shogun Rua/Lyoto Machida fight at UFC 104?

Jake Shields: I thought it was a good technical fight. I had Shogun winning. It was a close fight. I gave at least three rounds to Shogun. I had two rounds that I pretty much gave a draw. If I was a judge I would’ve given it to Shogun.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): The 10-point must scoring system is always up for debate after a fight like that one. Do you like the way the current scoring system is or think it should be changed?

Jake Shields: It’s really tough to score a fight in general. One problem is that the 10-point must system weighs too much on the last round, which isn’t fair either. I think more than the system, it’s the judges. I think we need judges that know the sport. These guys get paid to judge and people bring their buddies in who don’t know anything about the sport to judge. I think they need to fix that more than the actual judging system.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): In your last fight you were able to submit Robbie Lawler in the first round, but what impressed me the most was your stand up leading up to the submission. Do you feel like you were winning the stand up battle prior to the grappling?

Jake Shields: Yeah, I definitely did. I thought I was doing really good out there, but I went back and watched the announcers and they talked about how bad I was losing, but if you watch it I wasn’t. I think they had their minds made up about my stand up (beforehand). Frank Shamrock was going off about how I was in trouble, but it looked like I was landing a lot more shots than Robbie was, in my opinion.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Is your stand up something you’ve been focusing on extra hard in your training?

Jake Shields: Yeah, the last two years I focused a lot on my stand up trying to catch up. Grappling is still my stronger point. I work a lot on my stand up and feel a lot more comfortable there.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re no stranger to fighting on CBS; however, this time it’s not the Kimbo Slice show that Elite XC was promoting, it’s the Fedor Emelianenko show. Talk about that dynamic.

Jake Shields: I think it’s awesome to be fighting on the card with Fedor Emelianenko. He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time. He’s the headliner but to be the co-headliner is quite an honor to be fighting alongside him. I’m really excited about it. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the promo for it so I hope it gets good ratings.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Have you ever seen Fedor fight in person?

Jake Shields: I actually have. I had the opportunity to go see him twice. I saw him in Japan fight the giant Korean guy (Hong Man Choi). I also saw him fight Andrei Arlovski in Affliction. He’s awesome to watch live.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Will you be coming out of your locker room to watch him fight after yours?

Jake Shields: I definitely plan on watching it as long as I’m not banged up. I plan on just going in the back and doing what I have to do and hopefully they’ll let me come out and watch. Sometimes athletic commissions won’t let you run back out so hopefully they’ll let me.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Strikeforce signed a guy recently who made his name outside the sport of MMA in Herschel Walker. I wanted to get your thoughts on his signing.

Jake Shields: Personally, I think it’s a good sign. Most people criticize it, obviously, but a guy like that is a phenomenal athlete. He’s a well known guy. He certainly shouldn’t be headlining any cards like Kimbo Slice was, but I think he definitely deserves a spot in Strikeforce. Maybe the first televised fight of the night or something. He’s obviously established himself as a great athlete. Hopefully he’s taking the sport seriously and he’ll go out there and maybe actually be a decent fighter.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re scheduled to face Jason “Mayhem” Miller on November 7. You guys did two episodes on MTV’s Bully Beatdown together. Did you guys get a chance to know each other at all during or outside filming?

Jake Shields: I’ve actually known Mayhem for years. We’re friends but it’s not like we’re great friends or anything. When I see him we’ll talk. It’s not like we call each other on the phone and catch up with each other. I like the guy, but I have no problem trying to break his nose.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): It’s conceivable you could beat the crap out of each other for five rounds and then go have a drink together afterwards?

Jake Shields: Yeah, definitely. I plan on winning the fight, but if for some chance I lost I wouldn’t be bitter. It’s not personal. It’s just a fight and I think we’re both aware of that. It’s related to the business. Sometimes you have to beat up people that are your friends.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Both of you have the majority of your career wins by submission. You’re both great on the ground. A lot of the time this translates into a stand up battle. Is it possible we see you two going toe-to-toe the whole time?

Jake Shields: It’s possible. I don’t think for 25 minutes. I think at some point one of us will go for takedowns because we’re both grapplers. He’ll go for a takedown and then I’ll go for a takedown, but I wouldn’t mind doing a little stand up with him either. I think this is the fight that people could see anything. I’m certainly willing to fight anywhere and I think he probably is too.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Besides your own gym in Berkeley, Calif., where has your training camp been taking place at for this fight?

Jake Shields: Over at Cesar’s gym. Cesar Gracie’s gym is about 30 minutes from here. Nick and Nate Diaz and Gil Melendez have been coming a lot and they come into my gym. I went down to LA for a little bit working at Wild Card Boxing. I went a few places but the majority of the training at my gym and Cesar’s.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I know you train at American Kickboxing Academy from time to time as well. I would think that has to help you out a ton with the stable of quality welterweights they have in Fitch, Koscheck and Swick. Do you concur?

Jake Shields: It’s definitely good, hard sparring. I don’t go there too much just because there’s a good chance I’ll fight some of those guys. They’re not my friends, but it’s just a situation where there are a lot of top fighters there, so I’m sure at some point I’ll fight somebody from that gym. Definitely a lot of talented guys there.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Are you still finding it hard to gain solid weight to try to fill out as a 185’er while continuous training?

Jake Shields: I put some weight on in between fights but once you’re training hard for a fight it’s pretty much impossible to put too much solid weight on. You’re training it all off. I’m eating a lot. I got a chance to catch a sponsor now that has some awesome products. That has helped me gain some weight and keep it lean.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What is your weight now and what do you expect to weigh in at on November 7?

Jake Shields: I’ll weigh in at 185, but I’m walking around at about 193, which is where I was at earlier today. Definitely small for 185 still, but at least I have to cut a few pounds.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re not exactly doing the Anthony Johnson weight cut though.

Jake Shields: That guy is massive. He could probably fight 185. I saw him about a month ago and I was like, “You’re coming to 170’s?” He was like over 200 when I saw him.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your style of jiu-jitsu is American jiu-jitsu. Tell me the difference between that and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Jake Shields: A few small changes. I have an American wrestling background and a black belt in Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu. It’s minus the gi and it’s a combination of the two. Not enough people mix the wrestling and the jiu-jitsu. I think they’re both crucial so I combined the two. It’s a lot more high paced jiu-jitsu. It’s not about waiting. Jiu-jitsu is about waiting for your opponents to make mistakes. I’m about forcing your opponents to make mistakes.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Before Mayhem signed on for your fight Frank Shamrock was a potential opponent for you as well. Why did that fight never materialize?

Jake Shields: I don’t think Shamrock wants any part of me. He’s past his prime. After the beating that Nick Diaz gave him he had a reality check. I think maybe he was thinking he could still fight young, tough fighters and it was really a wake up call. Now he will want to try to fight older guys or some B-level fighters. I don’t expect Frank to ever want to fight me at this point.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You seem to have avoided a nickname up to this point even though you’ve been around a while. Are you just praying that something ridiculous doesn’t stick to you at this point?

Jake Shields: (Laughs) Exactly. People try to give me nicknames and I keep pushing them away. I’m not against taking a nickname if it was a cool nickname with a meaning. I don’t want one of these ridiculous nicknames just for the sake of having one. I don’t want to be like “Darth” Bader or “The Dean of Mean” Jardine. Those are cool guys and all but those nicknames are like, really?

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Don’t forget “The Dream Catcher” Gegard Mousasi.

Jake Shields: Yeah, I don’t know where they come up with these nicknames. They just pick anything. I don’t think everyone needs a nickname.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I talked to Jon Fitch about this a few months ago. He basically said it has to come from your friends or teammates and nothing has ever stuck but, on the other hand, he can’t just show up at the gym and tell everyone to call him Cobra or something like that.

Jake Shields: (Laughs) I think that’s what a lot of guys are doing nowadays. They think they found a cool nickname and then come in and are like, “hey, this is my nickname.”

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Moving forward, how many fights left on your current contract if you don’t mind saying?

Jake Shields: I think it’s one or two after this fight. My dad handles the exact contract. I’m not that sure right now, but I know it’s not too many. There’s also a time clause on it.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Are you interested in going after not only the middleweight belt but the Strikeforce welterweight belt as well?

Jake Shields: I would like to do that. I think that would be awesome to take both. I don’t know what Strikeforce wants to do. I think they kind of want different champs, but I would certainly be willing to fight for both. There’s also the problem with Nick Diaz fighting in Strikeforce as well. I don’t want to try to cut in and step on his toes. If the opportunity was right and it wouldn’t block Nick I would definitely fight for both belts.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Strikeforce seems to be having problems with guys not defending their belts. What would justify stripping a guy of his belt in your opinion?

Jake Shields: I guess you have to look at it fighter for fighter to figure out what the reasons are to figure out if they’re legitimate. I think if someone hasn’t defended it in a year that’s long enough. A lot of these guys have legitimate reasons like Josh Thomson. I know Josh. He legitimately broke his foot a couple times so what are you going to do? You don’t really want to strip someone in that situation, but if someone is not fighting it can get kind of ridiculous too.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Cung Le and Alistair Overeem, on the other hand, are different situations.

Jake Shields: Oh yeah. Cung Le definitely needed to be stripped. Nothing against Cung Le but you can’t just hold onto a belt and not fight, and then say you want to do movies or say you’ll only fight if they give you an easy fight.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Right now people are having a tough time figuring out who can beat Georges St. Pierre in the UFC now that he’s run through the majority of their 170’s. Is he still a guy you’d like to test your skills against someday?

Jake Shields: Definitely. I’d love to fight GSP one day. Right now I’m here with Strikeforce and worried about fights that are realistic. That’s a dream fight. I hope he keeps winning and I keep winning so at some point that fight becomes a reality.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Assuming the UFC continues to have the majority of the top welterweights in the world moving forward, will your career be complete if you don’t have a UFC belt when it’s all said and done?

Jake Shields: It would be nice to get that UFC belt but it all depends on what Strikeforce does too. Right now they’re doing really good things. I’ve heard rumors about guys like Dan Henderson. They’re treating me really good so I’m just going to take it one step at a time. It would be awesome to have that UFC belt but that’s not my ultimate goal either.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Before we go would you like to pass along a message to your fans out there or thank any sponsors?

Jake Shields: Thanks to all the fans for the support. I want to thank Champion Nutrition, Tapout, Rockstar Energy Drink and EA Sports. And my whole team and trainers. Without them I wouldn’t be fighting.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Appreciate the time. Thank you again. I’ll see you up in Chicago for the fight.

Jake Shields: Awesome. It was no problem at all. I’ll see you in Chicago.

Derek Bolender is an MMA contributor to MMAmania.com, CBSSports.com, BleacherReport.com, and InsideFights.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DerekMMAwriter and Facebook.com/Derek.Bolender.

On the heels of the controversial main event finish at UFC 104 between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua, UFC President Dana White promised disappointed fans an immediate rematch.

The general consensus coming out of the event was that “Shogun” did enough to win a decision over the undefeated light heavyweight champion at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California back on Oct. 24.

The only problem is he didn’t, losing two rounds two three. In fact, all three judges — Nelson Hamilton, Cecil Peoples and Marcos Rosales — scored it 48-47 for “The Dragon.”

“I thought Shogun won the fight,” White remarked at the post-event press conference.

White also appeared to be a little upset that both fighters didn’t lay it all on the line in the fifth and final round. That’s probably because both of their respective corners told them they were ahead on the judges scorecards.

Despite a lip laceration and some very sore legs, Machida was ready to prove to the world his win was no mistake — just as Rua was ready to prove he was deserving of the 205-pound title.

There were rumblings of adding Machida vs. Rua 2 to the main card of UFC 108 on January 2; however, Yahoo Sports is now reporting that Machida will require surgery on his hand to repair damaged sustained in the five round battle against Rua.

As of now, the future of their planned rematch is up in the air. The extent of the injury, as well as the duration of the recovery time, has not been established, but it’s hard to imagine a rematch happening earlier than mid 2010.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more updates on Machida’s surgery as they become available.

After a gutty and hard-fought win over Mac Danzig at UFC Fight Night 17: “Lauzon vs. Stephens” earlier this year, 25-year-old mixed martial arts veteran Josh Neer had inked a four-fight contract extension that was expected to keep the lightweight dynamo with the UFC for an additional four fights.

The promotion would only give him two.

After losing to Gleison Tibau at UFC 104: “Machida vs. Shogun,” his second straight loss since the Danzig fight, “The Dentist” has been released from his UFC contract.

Neer rejoined the UFC after posting a 2-3 record in his first run (2005-2006). During his layoff, he won six of seven fights outside the promotion before returning to the Octagon and defeating Din Thomas by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 13. He followed that up with a split decision loss to Nate Diaz, but not before earning “Fight of the Night” in their three-round war at UFC Fight Night 15 back in September.

Neer, who promises “Win, lose or draw I’m going to bring it,” would go on to nab his second straight “Fight of the Night” against Danzig, which no doubt prompted the UFC to hold on to the gritty warrior for his efforts inside the cage and his ability to electrify the crowd with his aggressiveness.

It apparently was not enough.

Prior to the Tibau fight, Neer was coming off a frustrating unanimous decision loss to Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 101 on Aug. 8, during which he was stifled by the wrestling and ground skills of “Batman” for most of the 15-minute scrap.

His ability to electrify the crowd with his aggressiveness is among the best in the division; however, he had a difficult time sparking fireworks against opponents with strong wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

What the future has in store for this talent is unknown, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be unemployed for very long. With the right match-up, Neer will always deliver.

”Keep moving. Never, never stay still. Keep moving, and you’ll always find some way, some pocket, to get out of a bad situation. Especially when it comes to a ground situation.”

– Words of wisdom from former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Josh Barnett, as he helps Brett Rogers prepare to take on the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, at Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers” at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Nov. 7. Of course, Barnett was supposed to fight Fedor earlier this year at Affliction: “Trilogy;” however, he tested positive for banned substances prior to the match and the bout was scrapped. Barnett competed alongside the Russian for several years under the Pride FC banner and is among the most intelligent fighters in the sport today. If anyone can help Rogers gameplan effectively for Emelianenko it’s certainly Barnett. In fact, he may even be over qualified. But will it be enough for Rogers to overcome years of experience and a much more well rounded skill set?

Elliot Worsell, UFC - Liverpool lightweight Paul 'Tellys' Kelly never planned on being a fighter. He didn't expect his combat whim to get this far. He was more than content to just be a UFC fan. He didn't even need to be Octagonside. So long as he was watching the sport he loved to watch, Kelly was satisfied with his event t-shirt and fight programme.

Props: Terra Magazine

“First of all, I hope to make a good fight. I want to impose my game and what I’m training. For sure I expect to knockout. Brown has a very strong wrestling. All my opponents were dangerous up to now but he is champion and I think he is the most dangerous fighter WEC put in front of me. I think Brown is going to try the ground and pound and trade some punches too. He will start striking to feel the fight and after he will take me down. I’m well trained everywhere to fight five rounds but I want to knockout. If I become the WEC champion, who knows I will go to UFC some day?”

Undefeated Brazilian smashing machine, Jose Aldo, will look to make it six straight (technical) knockout victories when he goes toe-to-toe with WEC Featherweight Champion, Mike Brown, at WEC 44 from “The Pearl” at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 18. It certainly won’t be easy because Brown is as tough as they come. But if anyone can do it is Aldo — he is absolutely ferocious on his feet. Will he be able to keep it upright or will Brown be able to neutralize his stand up with takedowns and punishing ground and pound. Predictions please, Maniacs.

Despite previous reports that bantamweight contenders Takeya Mizugaki and Damacio “The Angel of Death” Page would collide at WEC 45: “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff” from “The Pearl” at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 19, the promotion recently announced that Japanese import Mizugaki (12-3-2) would instead face five-fight WEC veteran, Scott Jorgensen (7-3).

Jorgensen is coming off perhaps the best performance of his career earlier this month at WEC 43, stopping The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum Noah Thomas with strikes in the first round.

This will mark the Boise, Idaho, resident’s fourth fight in 2009. He defeated Frank Gomez back in January at WEC 38 via first round submission and he dropped a hard fought split decision to Antonio Banuelos five months later at WEC 41.

Mizugaki is widely considered to be one of the top five bantamweight fighters in all of mixed martial arts. He’s probably best known for his gritty five round decision loss to the one-time king of the 135 pounders, Miguel Torres, back in April at WEC 40.

The Japanese fighter was filling in on short notice for an injured Brian Bowles that night, and not many people really expected him to put up much of a fight against “Angel.” However, he not only put up a good fight, but he was right there with Torres blow for blow for most of the contest.

It was an eye opening performance for most of the WEC fans who were getting their first glimpse of him live.

Mizugaki has had one fight since then — a split decision win over grizzled veteran Jeff Curran at WEC 42 in August.

On paper this looks like one Mizugaki should win, but Jorgensen is coming off a stellar performance and he appears primed and ready to give the former number one contender all he can handle.

It all goes down live on the Versus network on Dec. 19. For more on WEC 45 click here.

H.I.T. Squad product Matt Veach will fill-in for the injured Kurt Pellegrino and take on Frank Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 Finale from the “The Pearl” at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 5.

MMAmania.com learned about the replacement earlier this afternoon shortly after news broke that “Batman” suffered a back injury during training.

More on this breaking news shortly.

TUF 10 Finale will feature a showdown between the top two finalists from the Spike TV reality show, as well as a light heavyweight war featuring Jon “Bones” Jones as he inches his way closer to contention against Matt “The Hammer” Hamill.

Kurt Pellegrino has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming lightweight fight against Frank Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 Finale on Dec. 5 after suffering a back injury during training.

“The Answer” dropped the injury bomb via his official Twitter account earlier today and MMAmania.com has since confirmed that a back injury has felled the “Batman.”

This unfortunate news comes just hours after Thiago Alves was forced to withdraw from his UFC 107 fight against Jon Fitch after the “Pitbull” hurt his knee in practice. Add that to the UFC 106 cancellation by Brock Lesnar and it’s been nothing but bad news since UFC 104 last Saturday night.

Edgar also hinted that a replacement bout may be in the works. Like the Alves situation in the welterweight division, there should be no problem finding a suitable replacement for Pellegrino in the talent rich 155-pound weight class.

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt defeated former lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 98: “Evans vs. Machida” back on May 23 for what was undoubtedly the biggest win of his career.

It’s going to be a tough challenge for whoever steps up to take Pellegrino’s place.

The TUF 10 Finale will feature a showdown between the top two finalists from the Spike TV reality show as well as a potential light heavyweight war featuring Jon “Bones” Jones as he inches his way closer to contention against Matt “The Hammer” Hamill.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for an update on the status of Edgar’s participation in the Dec. 5 event as soon as it becomes available.

Shooto promoter Sustain resurrected the classic “Vale Tudo Japan” series on Oct. 30 at JCB Hall in Tokyo where some of the venerable Shooto stars and alumni on the card earned emphatic victories at the memorable event.

In one of the two five-rounders under the specially designated VTJ rule, current Shooto 143-pound champion “Lion” Takeshi Inoue solidified his champion status in the Shooto history book by defeating the former champion, Alexandre “Pequeno” Franca Nogueira via TKO in Round 4.

“Pequeno,” the former Shooto champion, continues his devolution from the undisputed featherweight king of the world into a relic in the fast-evolving world of MMA: He has lost four of his last five fights, dating back to 2005.

Shooto pioneer and longtime fan favorite, Rumina Sato, restored himself to the winning column by making a quick work of Cory Grant via KO in the first round. Grant, fellow Team Quest member of Sato’s original opponent, Joe Warren, came in as a last-minute replacement after Warren was unable to come to terms with Sustain over the provisions of the match.

Shooto bantamweight star, Mamoru Yamaguchi broke his year-long hiatus to pound out Guamanian prospect, Jesse Taitano in the first round.

In the main event of the night, former PRIDE lightweight champion, Takanori Gomi, edged past KOTC lightweight champ, Tony Hervey, after five rounds via unanimous decision. The victory is the second in a row for the former lightweight kingpin after a deflating two-fight losing streak that led to his fall from grace.

Yet, Gomi’s performance was hardly what his fans expected from the “Fireball Kid” who once tore through his competition in PRIDE.

Hervey gave Gomi all he can handle, and forced him to muster every last ounce of grit to pull out a victory — at one point, Gomi seemed to have exausted his gas tank, raising the specter of his loss to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33.

Once again, a thick cloud hovers over Gomi’s future, as he seemingly has lost the luster of his reign in PRIDE.

When Gomi took the mic immediately after the fight, he was out of breath and struggled to deliver his words to the crowd. He apologized to the crowd for his performance and admitted to the lack of preparation.

Curiously enough, the announcement he had in store for the fans in JCB Hall that he alluded to during the pre-fight press conference was his desire to challenge K-1 icon, Masato on New Year’s Eve. Not surprisingly, Gomi retracted his words: Masato is now set to face the newly crowned K-1 MAX winner, Georgio Petrosyan.

Full results:

Takanori Gomi def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (47-45, 46-45, 46-44) R5 5:00
“Lion” Takeshi Inoue def. Alexandre Franca Nogueira via TKO (punches) R4 2:58
Rumina Sato def. Cory Grant via KO (punches) R1 3:20
Tito Jones def. Tenkei “Fujimiya” Oda via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-29) R3 5:00
Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire def. Kenichiro Togashi via TKO (doctor stoppage) R1 2:05
Mamoru Yamaguchi def. Jesse Taitano via TKO (punches) R1 4:41
Jung Ming Kang def. Yoichiro Sato via KO (punches) R1 2:48
Kosuke “Jukucho” Eda vs. Masato Sannai was ruled a majority draw (19-19, 18-19, 19-19) R2 5:00

For our complete Vale Tudo Japan 2009 archive click here.

Props: USA Today

Quoteworthy:

“UFC is a great contribution. It’s a return to glory for people who like sophisticated barbarism. Dana White and (co-founder) Lorenzo Fertitta have done a phenomenal job. I’m the people’s promoter. Whatever the people want, I’m going to promote. Whatever the public wants, that’s what I want to give them. I want to give it to them with candor so they can quantify, qualify and identify with whoever the athlete is. Who am I to say that something is wrong with them when I’m always crying about, ‘Why you’re treating me this way?’ They bring competition. They bring people. Let’s enrich it and monetize it. Let’s bring the people something. When I bring my guys in we’ll be getting prepared to take on Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta in their league vs. our league. The same thing I want to do with the sport of boxing I want to do with MMA. Make it competitive, man. Make it a comparison. Even though they’ve put on good fights, let’s see what they do with someone totally independent.”

Famed boxing promoter Don King, who once joined the likes of Bob Arum in trashing the world’s fastest growing sport, can no longer ignore the dollar signs attached to the millions of loyal fans it now draws. It also helps that Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have been doing most of the heavy lifting over the past five years and Mr. Opportunity perhaps thinks it’s now time to strike while the iron is hot. Does he pose a threat? Or will he eventually have an honorary tombstone in White’s office alongside Affliction and PRIDE?

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 winner Amir Sadollah (1-1) will welcome Phil Baroni (13-11) back into the Octagon in a welterweight clash planned for UFC 106 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 21.

And now he gets to do it on the televised portion of the card.

After an illness forced Brock Lesnar to withdraw from his main event fight against Shane Carwin, the UFC promoted the rematch between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz into the main event slot.

That promotion created a vacancy on the main card, which the UFC has confirmed will be filled by Sadollah vs. Baroni.

Amir suffered a series of injury-related setbacks since a submission win over CB Dolloway at TUF 7 Finale. He was expected to follow up that performance against Nick Catone at UFC 91: “Lesnar vs. Couture” on November 15. However, just four days before fight night he had to withdraw because of a leg infection.

After more than a year on the sidelines, Sadollah finally got back into the cage at UFC 101 last month in his welterweight debut. Unfortunately his return was short lived after Johnny Hendricks put him down in the first round (with a little help from much-maligned referee Dan Miragliotta).

Now the likable and hard-working Sadollah will get a chance to erase those bad memories with a big win over potential opponent and master of self-promotion Phil Baroni.

“The New York Bad Ass” last appeared in St. Louis back in June of this year, dropping a unanimous decision to fellow MMA journeyman Joe “Diesel” Riggs. The loss marked his first defeat in four fights since rebounding from a three fight losing skid, as well as his first loss at 170 pounds.

The 33-year-old Pride FC, Elite XC and Strikeforce veteran recently agreed to return to where his career essentially began with the UFC, likely facilitated by his good relationship with company president, Dana White, and his colorful ability to promote fights.

Baroni competed eight times inside the Octagon between 2001 and 2005, compiling a lackluster record (3-5) during that span. He fought Evan Tanner and Matt Lindland twice (four total fights) and lost all of those middleweight matches. Baroni is perhaps best known for being upset by up-and-comer Pete Sell thanks to a guillotine choke that put the Long Island, N.Y., native to sleep.

How he performs against the up-and-coming Sadollah on November 21 will say a lot about his future in the UFC — and MMA overall.

For all the latest on the UFC 106 fight card and rumors click here.