Friday, March 19, 2010

World Heavyweight Champion Alistair "The Demolition Man" Overeem will make his highly anticipated return to action against heavy-handed knockout artist Brett "The Grim" Rogers in the main event of a Strikeforce mixed martial arts extravaganza at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday, May 15.  In another heavyweight confrontation, Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski will clash with Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., will play host to Bellator Fighting Championships again this spring when the promotion returns to New England for "Bellator XV" on April 22.  The fight card for the event, which will be broadcast nationwide on FOX Sports Net and in highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo, includes one yet-to-be-announced first-round lightweight tournament bout and three first-round welterweight tournament matchups:

MMA heavyweight "The Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett returns to the ring for the first time since the cancellation of his fight with Fedor Emelianenko.  Barnett makes his Dream debut against K-1 veteran Siala "Mighty Mo" Siligia.  Barnett was widely considered one of the top heavyweights in the world prior to a conflict over a pre-fight drug test mandated by the California State Athletic Commission.   The main event of the evening features Dream Featherweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes defending his title versus Joachim Hansen.

After traveling to three continents and holding 50 fights, the 2010 season of the "M-1 Selection” invades the United States with the opening round of “The M1 Selection Americas” on Saturday, April 3 at Bally's Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  The opening round kicks-off the American edition of a global mixed-martial tournament unrivaled in size and scope, featuring 160 of the most promising fighters from all around the world competing in five weight classes.

According to recent reports there have been three new additions to the next Dream light heavyweight grand prix, "Dream.15". Renato Sobral, Gegard Mousasis, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will all compete for the organization.  In addition to the first round of this grand prix, "Dream.15" will also host the return of its welterweight champion, Marius Zaromskis (13-4), though no opponent has been announced for his return match.

Finally, these two former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champions get a chance to let their fists do the talking. After multiple back-and-forth verbal exchanges on season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter", former UFC light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Suga” Rashad Evans are set to headline U"FC 114: Jackson vs. Evans", presented by THQ’s “UFC Undisputed 2010” and live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 29. During that weekend the second annual UFC Fan Expo will be taking place.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Ryan McGivern, the former IFL champion and longtime pupil of former UFC champion Pat Miletich, is the latest addition to Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming season two middleweight tournament roster.  The 30-year-old McGivern boasts an overall professional record of 13-6 including wins over UFC veteran Matt Horwich and WEC veteran Dan Molina. A native of Bettendorf, Iowa, he was a four-time letter-winner in wrestling at the University of Iowa.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Bellator Fighting Championships put the final piece in place for its much-anticipated second season lightweight tournament today with the signing of 9-3 up-and-comer Pat Curran.  The 22-year-old Curran is the cousin of UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and Pride veteran Jeff Curran but is quickly stepping out of his cousin’s shadow and carving his own path in the MMA world.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The second episode of the three part series "UFC Primetime" features more tough talk between UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy as they prepare for their world welterweight title clash at "UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy." The new episode premieres Wednesday, March 17 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.

In a recent interview with MMAjunkie.com Radio, Bellator CEO Mr. Bjorn Rebney said that a “super-fight” between lightweights Eddie Alvarez and Josh Neer is scheduled to take place May 6 at Bellator 17. While Eddie Alvarez (19-2) is the current Bellator lightweight champion, this bout with Josh Neer is a non-title fight and is expected to be fought at a catchweight of 160 pounds.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Two world titles will be on the line for the first time in 2010 when the UFC returns to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the sold-out "UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy," Saturday, March 27, live on pay-per-view and presented by Tapout. In featured bouts, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, looks to extend his reign against British bomber Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy, and former heavyweight champion Frank Mir looks to become only the second man in UFC history to win the championship three times when he takes on number one contender Shane Carwin for the interim UFC heavyweight title.

After months of back-and-forth negotiations, which consistently fell through, DirecTV and Comcast have finally reached an agreement bringing Versus, the home of the WEC, back to DirecTV. The station was originally dropped in August of 2009.