Saturday, March 20, 2010

With the addition of Roger Huerta to the Bellator lightweight tournament and the subsequent filling of the last remaining spot with Pat Curran, one competitor, that was thought to be a lock for the tournament has been left out in the cold. His exclusion from the tournament, the potential for a rematch against Tony Imada, and the fact that he is one of the signature names still on the roster from the first season of Bellator has drawn questions as to the future of Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal with the organization.

Jake Shields will be squaring off with Dan “Hollywood” Henderson in the main event at Strikeforce on April 17, to be aired on CBS, live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.  Three world title fights highlight the first ever Strikeforce event in the state.  The champions and contenders were all on hand at the Strikeforce open media workout at Legends MMA gym in Hollywood, this past Wednesday. 

Friday, March 19, 2010

Home to two of the first five UFC events, Charlotte, North Carolina will once again host the premier organization in mixed martial arts on Wednesday, March 31, as the UFC returns to Charlotte for the first time in nearly 15 years with a spectacular card at the Bojangles Coliseum featuring the lightweight showdown between two-time title challenger Kenny Florian and Japanese superstar and former Pride champion Takanori Gomi. This bout will headline the latest edition of Spike TV’s hit "UFC Fight Night" series, which airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

With its season two opening event now less than three weeks away, Bellator today revealed the first round matchups for its much-anticipated, nationally-televised lightweight tournament.  The four fights will take place during Bellator’s first three events on April 8, April 15 and April 22. Fighter pairings for Bellator’s featherweight and welterweight tournaments have already been announced. Matchups for the middleweight tour- nament will be announced later this month.

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.