Hawaiian Fighting Arts

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is ready to retire when he’s considered the sport’s pound-for-pound best.

Don’t worry, though. On a special “Primetime” edition of MMAjunkie Radio this past Friday, St-Pierre said he’s not quite there yet.

Still, if St-Pierre takes “a couple” of welterweight fights in the next year or two, and if UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva is still the pound-for-pound king at that point, the French-Canadian then would consider moving up to fight him. And if he defeats Silva, that’s a win worthy of retirement, he said.

“The Ultimate Fighter 11″ winner Court McGee is expected to make his first post-”TUF” appearance when he meets Ryan Jensen at UFC 121.

MMAjunkie.com learned of the matchup today via multiple sources close to the event who said that verbal agreements are place and contracts will be finalized shortly.

UFC 121 is expected to take place Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., though the promotion has yet to announce the pay-per-view event.

For all those fans who have wondered if the UFC’s lucrative fight-night bonuses could influence a fighter’s game plan, you now have an answer.

UFC welterweight Daniel Roberts, who picked up his first octagon win by defeating Forrest Petz earlier this month at UFC 116, admits the lure of a $75,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus was nearly impossible to ignore.

But after earning a close-split decision victory that likely salvaged his UFC career, Roberts told MMAjunkie.com Radio he’s taking a win-first mentality into all future fights.

The televised main card for today’s officially announced UFC Fight Night 22 event is now set.

Spike TV officials today announced that the event, which takes place Sept. 15 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, features co-headliners of Demian Maia vs. Alan Belcher and Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman.

Now also set for the Spike TV-televised main card are lightweights Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau and Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson.

Soon-to-be light heavyweight James McSweeney has opted not appeal his most recent UFC loss.

Lex McMahon, McSweeney’s manager, today told MMAjunkie.com that the fighter instead will focus on his 205-pound debut against Tom Blackledge at UFC 120.

McSweeney, a veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 10,”
suffered a TKO loss to UFC newcomer Travis Browne
after a fierce spell of ground and pound at The Ultimate Fighter 11
Finale in June.

The lightweights of WEC 50’s new co-main event expect big things in the future.

Anthony Pettis and Shane Roller, both of whom got a bump after former featherweight champion Urijah Faber was forced to bow out of the co-headliner slot with an injury, could be in line for a shot at current 155-pound title-holder Benson Henderson.

Although the promotion traditionally makes no such guarantees, representatives for Pettis and Roller expect the fight to determine a new No. 1 contender.

With a prominent “Bellator” tattoo spread across the fighter’s stomach, it only makes sense that Bellator Fighting Championships would sign Travis Reddinger to the organization.

Of course, the ink on his torso was dry more than four years before the Bellator brand (Latin for “warrior”) launched as a fight promotion.

As part of his new deal, officials today confirmed that Reddinger has joined its eight-man season-three bantamweight tournament, which crowns Bellator’s first-ever 135-pound champion.

As expected UFC Fight Night 22 takes place Sept. 15, and the Spike TV-televised event airs live from the 16,000-seat Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Spike TV officials today announced the event.

And as expected, UFC Fight Night 22, which precedes the debut episode of
“The Ultimate Fighter 12,” features a middleweight headliner between
contenders Demian Maia and Alan Belcher, and Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig
rematch in the night’s co-headliner.

Round 5 today released images of its new “Versus” line, which hits store shelves later this fall.

The Canadian-based company has been one of MMA’s most successful entrepreneurial stories with its line of popular solo-fighter figurines.

In the new “Versus” line, each collectible features two fighters from classic UFC superfights.

A light-heavyweight bout between Cyrille Diabate and Alexander Gustafsson will be part of October’s UFC 120 event.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed with a source close to the event that bout agreements are being finalized for the matchup, which was first reported by MMAFighting.com.

UFC 120 takes place Oct. 16 at The O2 in London. The night’s main card airs via same-day delay on Spike TV.