Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Light heavyweight standouts Antwain "The Juggernaut" Britt and Rafael "Feijão" Cavalcante will face off on the Strikeforce card scheduled for May 15.  The fight was confirmed by Britt's head trainer Buck Grant over Twitter.  Both fighters have won their previous fights in the organization, and a victory at this event would position the winner for a run at the 205 pound belt.

Former UFC light heavyweight competitor James "The Sandman" Irvin is scheduled to make his long awaited return to action and his middleweight debut against Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara. The bout has been moved to the main card of "UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones" scheduled for March 21, 2010 to be aired live on Versus.

UFC today announced it has reached a long-term agreement with ASN, the first 24-hour HD sports channel in Asia to distribute UFC programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. ASN will officially launch UFC programming on April 10 with "UFC 112: Silva vs Maia", a live event taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and featuring two world title fights.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Two of the most dynamic UFC light heavyweights clash on Sunday, March 21, when Muay Thai ace Brandon “The Truth” Vera takes on dangerous 22-year-old phenom Jon “Bones” at the First Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado for "UFC on VERSUS".  The fight will air live on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET marking the debut of the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization on VERSUS and the first time that a live UFC event will air on a national sports cable network.

In anticipation of their world welterweight title clash at "UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy," UFC champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy will be featured on "UFC Primetime," a weekly, three part series premiering Wednesday, March 10 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.  In the first episode, Hardy boastfully speaks about his chances of dethroning the champion, St. Pierre.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Toby Imada, whose jaw-dropping “Submission of the Year” helped put Bellator Fighting Championships on the map during its debut season, will return to the promotion for its upcoming season two lightweight tournament. Imada’s remarkable submission, an inverted triangle choke of the heavily favored Jorge Masvidal at Bellator V, became an overnight YouTube sensation (more than 650,000 people have watched it online to date) and took home honors for “Submission of the Year” from the 2009 World MMA Awards and virtually every major MMA news site.

Tyler Stinson, a 24-year-old native of Winfield, Kan., was the unanimous winner of an open tryout sponsored by Bellator Fighting Championships on Saturday, earning him a chance to fight in Bellator’s upcoming nationally-televised event at the Kansas City Power & Light District on April 29 Stinson was one of 72 fighters from as far away as New York, California, Texas and Arizona to travel to Lenexa, Kan., for the tryout, which was judged by Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney and a panel of other top Bellator talent executives. Participants included former veterans of the WEC, IFL and other top promotions.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

With Yoshihiro Akiyama and Dong Hyun Kim already under the Zuffa banner, it seems the UFC’s sister promotion now has their own key into the South Korean market. Featherweight standout Chan Sung Jung has signed a six-fight deal with the WEC. The 22-year-old Jung (10-1) has competed in promotions such as Sengoku, Deep, and Pancrase.

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Friday evening's World Muay Thai Council (WMC) event from the Quiet Cannon nightclub in Montebello, California treated fans to a memorable Muay Thai show with six action packed amateur and two professional fights. The main event featured Muay Thai legend, Coke Chunhawat versus Tampa's Dan Rawlings, as well a WMC amateur featherweight title bout between Jessie Magusen and Ruben Ekyotin.

Friday, March 05, 2010

According to Strikeforce color commentator Mauro Renallo, a heavyweight clash slated for May 15 between Strikeforce Heavy-weight Champion Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers may very well be for the Strikeforce heavyweight title, despite earlier reports to the contrary. While Strikeforce president Scott Coker has yet to confirm or deny the rumors, Mauro was quick to emphasize that the update was inside information.

Filipino MMA superstar Eduard Folayang is set to return to action on March 27 at “URCC XVI: Reckoning”. His opponent, Dooje Chung, is making his Universal Reality Combat Championship debut.  Folayang, a decorated Wushu and San Shou expert, earned the URCC welterweight title in 2007 when he defeated Allan Co via tko in the first round. He has since moved to lightweight and amassed a 5-1 record.

As with past WEC events, MMA Spot will be bringing our readers coverage of weigh-in events, post-fight press conferences, exclusive video and behind-the-scenes moments leading right up to "WEC: Bowles vs. Cruz." The event takes place on Saturday, March 6, 2010 from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and will be broadcast live on Versus at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.  The main event of the evening features a bantamweight title bout between Brian Bowles and Dominick Cruz. As well as former 135-pound champ Miguel Torres taking on Joseph Benavidez.