Half of the fighters on the action-packed UFC 116 received medical
suspensions, and a few might be on the bench until the end of the year.
Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer today
emailed the list of UFC 116 medical suspensions to MMAjunkie.com.
UFC 116 took place this past Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas and aired live on pay-per-view.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has fully recovered from a knockout loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in
May, and “The Dragon” is primed for a return to action.
And if you think Machida is looking for some kind of warm-up fight to
get the taste of his first professional loss out of his mouth, think
again.
Instead, with Rua sidelined until the spring, Machida and his camp would
like a shot at an interim title against Rashad Evans with the winner
eventually taking on “Shogun.”
A welterweight contest between T.J. Grant and Julio
Paulino is on tap for UFC 119.
Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com that the fighters have verbally agreed to the contest and are expected
to finalize bout agreements shortly.
UFC 119 takes place Sept. 25 at the 18,000-seat Conseco Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis.
Newly minted welterweight Nate Diaz will re-up with
the UFC for four more fights.
The fighter’s manager, Cesar Gracie, today told MMAjunkie.com that the new contract will be finalized today.
Additionally, Diaz is signed to face Marcus Davis on the first televised
bout of Aug. 28’s UFC 118 in Boston. TD Garden, the city’s revered
sports arena, hosts the pay-per-view event.
World Extreme Cagefighting officials have taken their brand of fighting
on the road in 2010, and WEC 51 will likely once again lead the
promotion to a new destination.
MMAjunkie.com has confirmed with sources close to
the promotion that the WEC is eyeing the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield,
Colo., on Sept. 30 for the as-yet-unannounced WEC 51 event.
News of the expected fight card was first reported by the Las Vegas
Review-Journal.
The WEC returns to Las Vegas for the first time since December for “WEC
50: Cruz vs. Benavidez” on Aug. 18, and 10 bouts are now official for
the evening’s fight card.
WEC officials today confirmed the previously reported bouts of Scott
Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett, Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson, Maciej
Jewtuszko vs. Anthony Njokuani.
Featuring a bantamweight title fight between current title holder
Dominick Cruz and challenger Jospeh Benavidez, WEC 50 takes place Aug.
18 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar ($400,000) and main-card winners Chris Leben ($86,000) and Chris Lytle ($52,000) were the top earners at this past weekend’s UFC 116 event.
MMAjunkie.com recently requested and today received the list of disclosed paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The total disclosed payroll for the July 3 show was $923,000.
While middleweight Gerald Harris has yet to be
featured on the main card of a UFC event, that doesn’t mean he’s not
getting noticed.
Being on ESPN can do that for you.
“When I was leaving the airport, I saw (professional wrestler)
Goldberg,” Harris told MMAjunkie.com
Radio. “I said, ‘Excuse me, sir. I fought last night, and I just want your
autograph. I don’t want to bother you.’ … He said, ‘Oh, my God, dude. You were on
‘SportsCenter’ this morning.’ He grabbed me and took a picture with me. I
was like, ‘Hell, yeah!’”
MMAjunkie.com Radio today welcomes former UFC light heavyweight champion
Lyoto Machida and Black House co-founder Ed Soares in studio.
Machida will update us on his recovery from a UFC 113 loss and his road
back to the title, while Soares will discuss the latest news on his
impressive roster of clients.
MMAjunkie.com Radio airs from 12-2 p.m. ET (9-11 a.m. PT) live from the
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. Listen to and
watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.
Heavyweight boxing champion James Toney wants
you to know that he’s taking his taking his forthcoming mixed martial
arts debut against Randy Couture very seriously.
But that doesn’t mean the 41 year old is turning his back on the sport
that made him a star.
“I’m doing both (boxing and MMA),” Toney told MMAjunkie.com. “I’m a two-sport athlete. After I fight Couture on
Aug. 28, I’m going to defend my (boxing) title against somebody in
October or November.”