MMA Universe

“I want to fight BJ Penn again. He knows I’m the unique guy of this division able to knock him out. It would be the biggest champions fighting. Imagine how this match would be … but it’s not close to coming true. I don’t want to talk over UFC … Mr. Dana White is a great manager and I respect him but is a person hard to deal with. I’m not an art martial beginner, I am a MMA champion. What about him? What would he be?”

-- Former Pride FC lightweight deity Takanori Gomi talks to Tsutaya Online about his fighting future as he prepares for Tony Hervey at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 on Oct. 30. “The Fireball Kid” flirted with a stateside move a few years ago when Zuffa — the UFC parent company — purchased the Japan-based mixed martial arts promotion; however, he decided to stay loyal and close to home, competing in front of the fans who watched him ascend to stardom in the “Land of the Rising Sun.” He was persuaded once again to fight on US soil until Affliction MMA collapsed and left him high and dry. Will he ever compete for the UFC? And if so, does he have any chance of avenging his 2003 submission loss to current lightweight champion BJ Penn?

A middleweight battle between submission master Demian Maia (11-1) and hard-nosed Dan Miller (11-2) has been tentatively added to the UFC 110 card set for Superbowl weekend (Feb. 6, 2010) at a yet to be determined venue, which will likely be somewhere in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Both fighters are coming off their first losses in the Octagon — Maia was laid out in the opening seconds of a potential number one contender eliminator match by Nate Marquardt at UFC 102 back in August and Miller was outpointed on the judges scorecards by Chael Sonnen at UFC 98 in May.

Before their respective setbacks, Maia was enjoying a five-fight win streak in the UFC with all of his wins coming via submission. Miller, on the other hand,  was on a three-match streak himself, which included two victories via tapout.

Earlier this week Maia talked about upcoming fights and getting back into the UFC 185-pound title picture.

Here’s a snip:

“Depending on the opponents, if they’re tough guys, well known, I think I will get the chance of fighting for the belt in two or three fights. I want a hard adversary to show everything what I couldn’t in the past fight, all my training. I made tremendous errors versus Nate.”

With this fight the UFC has certainly given the Brazilian his wish — the unheralded and unassuming Miller is as tough as they come. Maia will certainly have his hands full, considering Miller has never lost a fight by submission, too.

As of right now there is no headlining bout set for UFC 110. The good news is there is still plenty of time left to put together yet another stacked Superbowl weekend show … the promotion is already off to a fine start with this potential match up.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card for early 2010.