MMA Melee: Your #1 MMA News Outlet! (As Voted By MMAFO)

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad "Sugar" Evans have been tapped to coach the 10th season of the Ultimate Fighter. Rashad is coming off his KO loss to Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida and Rampage got a close unanimous decision win over Team Jackson's Keith Jardine. Many thought Jackson would be in line for a title shot, but it seems Quinton would rather verbally spar with Evans for a season and then fight him in the UFC at their December show. Both men exchanged heated words after Rampage's said victory over the aforementioned Jardine, and Quinton actually requested to Dana White, that Rashad be added as the other coach. Me smells some "Dragon" ducking by Rampage, but there could be some really entertaining moments for TUF and a cast of much needed Heavyweights.
Speaking of Lyoto "Dragon" Machida, it looks as though Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will get the opportunity after defeating Chuck Liddell in his last fight. The bout is not finalized yet, but sources say the deal is immanent.
Fedor Emelianenko is slated to face Josh Barnett at Affliction's 3rd show in a highly anticipated dream match for the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship August 1st. This is the matchup I've been wanting for Fedor though it scares me as Barnett probably has the best game to possibly defeat Emelianenko on points at least.
Tim Sylvia, a former victim of the "Last Emperor," has signed on to fight Paul Buentello at the same Affliction show. Before that bout, Sylvia is scheduled to box Ray Mercer who is still trying to die in the ring, June 13th.
Veteran Frank Trigg (19-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) is returning to the UFC after signing a four-fight deal with the organization. He is 7-2 since leaving the organization in 2005. Trigg has fought for ICON Sport, where he defeated Jason “Mayhem” Miller to win the organization’s Middleweight title in 2006. He’s also appeared in PRIDE, HDNet Fights, World Victory Road’s “Sengoku” event series and Strikeforce. Trigg is currently riding a four-fight win streak, with six wins in his past seven fights. He will return as a Middleweight, not the Welterweight class he fought in the UFC before. Welcome back MMA's mad mouth!
Clay Guida has stated recently on his beautiful mane of hair, "In Columbus, Dana White offered me $10,000 to cut it. First it was $5,000, and then $10,000, and I laughed. I told him to add a couple zeros and we'll talk. The hair's here to stay. It's part of my style, part of my trademark." The "Carpenter's" toughest UFC bout to date is coming up against Diego Sanchez at the TUF 9 season finale. The "TUF Killer" has already bested Nate Diaz and Mac Danzig, 2 former TUF winners.
At 6-foot-4, 265 pounds and with a fighting nickname of "The Thrashing Machine," Tim Hague may not seem like a former kindergarten teacher, but he was. But when his small Canadian town produced only two kindergarten-ready students, his job was cut. Another opportunity, though, was right around the corner. Soon after earning a degree in education from the University of Alberta, Hague took up MMA from scratch. Hague quickly took to the sport. He made his pro MMA debut in 2006 and racked up a 9-1 record while fighting primarily for King of the Cage. "I just kept fighting and winning my fights," said Hague (9-1), who eventually won a KOTC heavyweight title.
The ballad of Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi continues as their proposed bout is still in limbo. Belfort was given the contract but hesitated questioning the marketability of the fight and Mousasi's star power. Gegard was MMAFO's 2008 "Fighter Of The Year" and won the DREAM Middleweight tournament as well as recently dispatching Mark Hunt in the 1st round of the "Super-Hulk" Open Weight Grand Prix. The 25-2-1 fighter seemed befuddled at the "Phenom" (18-8) being disinterested in the fight. "To be honest, I don't really care," said Mousasi. "But for me, his comments are strange because his paycheck will be unchanged whether he fights a bigger name than me or not. It is also strange that he does not see me as a challenge when many rankings have me ranked higher than him at Middleweight."
So, that led to the challenge.
"If (Belfort) does not want to fight at middleweight, why not fight me at a catchweight?" he said. Still no word from Vitor's camp as of yet.