Dan Henderson’s striking coach on the 9th season of “TUF” may have landed himself a job in the UFC. Cyrille Diabate told “Inside MMA” he’s in discussions to join the UFC roster. The "Snake" 14-6-1 with a 3-fight winning streak and his last loss was to some guy named "Shogun" Rua in 2006. The 6'6" Light Heavyweight from France has used his length to out strike opponents with that Holland Kickboxing style. He will need to improve his ground game but I'd imagine Team Quest is working with him on that aspect of the game and he would be a nice addition to the Zuffa roster.Blagoi Ivanov has become world famous after his shocking upset over Fedor Emelianenko in last years Combat Sambo competition. According to Nightmare of Battle, Ivanov will now face Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko in a Korean mixed martial arts contest on Sept. 29. An unwelcome to MMA is waiting in the form of little brother who is a top 10 Heavyweight himself, facing an untested fighter. I find it doubtful that Ivanov will take out the younger Emelianenko but who thought Joe Warren would run through the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and "Kid" Yamamoto? Anything is possible in MMA but it looks like it will be little brother defending big brother's honor in an interesting fight.
Lightweight Roger Huerta has finally been tapped to face Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma on Sept. 16. Huerta was benched after refusing to sign a 5-fight contract with the UFC in order to pursue what has to be a successful acting career. We have all seen how Cung Le, Randy Couture, Bas Rutten, and Chuck Liddell parlayed their MMA careers into Oscar deserving acting performances. "El Matador" last competed in August of last year in a decision loss to Kenny Florian. Looks like matchmaker Joe Silva finally found an opponent they believe can defeat the young prospect and send him away to Hollywood on a loss right before his contract expires. Classy move Zuffa, you treat your fighters well.
Lorenzo Fertitta, the head honcho and part owner of the UFC flew to Zagreb, Croatia with his own private jet to apologize for Dana White's ignorant mouth and try to lure Mirko Cro Cop back to the UFC. Mr. White publicly released a rant on Cro Crop "fucking him" out of an oral contract with the UFC only to find out it was reported by a rumor web site and incorrect. Lorenzo spoke with Mirko for two hours Cro Cop about his desire to fight more frequently, and Filipovic has stated that the UFC heavyweight title is a lifelong dream, though he didn’t want to wait another six months for his next bout. Cro Cop’s value to the UFC has become even more evident with Fertitta himself flying to Croatia. Such a move is almost unprecedented with most deals being handled by UFC president Dana White although it has happened before when "Blaf" screwed up deals with Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.
WEC will crown an interim Lightweight Champion when the promotion makes its first trip to Ohio on September 2. WEC 43 "Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson" will happen at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown. Current Champion Jaime Varner was none to pleased with the news but his broken hand, broken foot, and reportedly blurry vision is expected to keep him out of action for some time to come. Also of note, UFC veteran Spencer "The King" Fisher may be heading to the WEC and would immediately be in the title hunt. Fisher won his last 3 bouts in the UFC but has gotten stale with management who are looking more and more to move mid-tier Lightweight fighters to the WEC. The interim fight between the "Cowboy" and the MMA Lab prospect will be a great fight!
Gilbert Yvel will replace Tim Sylvia against Paul Buentello at Affliction 3 "Trilogy" on August 1 in Anaheim. Yvel (36-13-1) just brutally KO'd former UFC Heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo on Saturday at "Ultimate Chaos" in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was nasty but impressive as Tim sits on the sidelines after his embarrassing 9 second KO loss to Ray Mercer. Perhaps not taking the fight seriously, making a deal to only fight standing with a former professional boxing Champion, and coming in overweight at 310 lbs. wasn't such a good idea.
Former Welterweight standout Drew Fickett continues his fall from grace as he failed his pre-fight physical and was not allowed to compete at Rage in the Cage 129 in Glove, Arizona. Drew came in "legally drunk" after failing a breathalyzer test. The fighter was once much feared but has now lost 6 of his last 7 bouts due to personal demons which he cannot seem to overcome. I am predicting a sad end to this man's career and possibly his life if someone doesn't step in soon.
Brazilian submission ace and 12-time PRIDE veteran Ricardo Arono (13-5) is scheduled to fight for the 1st time in over 2 years according to a new report from the Portuguese-language website SuperLutas.com. According to the report, Arona will face UFC veteran Marvin Eastman on Sept. 12 at Bitetti Combat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A couple of tune-up fights should let us know whether or not the former "BTT Tank" can get back to form unlike teammate Paulo Filho who has seemingly fallen completely apart.
UFC 100 cageside tickets are going for as much as $40,000 so get out your mortgage papers if you wish to go.
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