TUF Brazil veterans Viana vs. Teixeira, added to UFC 147 preliminary card

Featherweight Hugo “Wolverine” Viana (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will take on John “Macapa” Teixeira (13-0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on next week’s UFC 147 preliminary card on FX. This will be the first eliminated cast member fight between two fighters from “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil”; reports MMAJunkie.com.UFC 147 is set for June 23 at Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond (also known as “Mineirinho”) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will fight a rematch against Wanderlei Silva in the

Stefan Struve vs. Stipe Miocic scheduled for UFC on Fuel TV 5

News just arose that the UFC’s first foray into Nottingham, England, will feature a shootout between two of the promotion’s best rising Heavyweights. Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve are set to battle it out in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 5 the September 29th card. Stefan Struve revealed news today via Twitter.com:

Fighting Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC Fuel 5! Happy to come back to Fight in Europe, proud to be main event! It’s gonna be great!!
— Stefan Struve (@StefanStruve) June 15,

Johny Hendricks: My next goal is to finish Martin Kampmann

UFC Welterweight contender Johny Hendricks was promised a title shot with a win against Josh Koscheck, however it appears that will have to wait until the belts are unified when champion Georges St. Pierre tentatively faces off against Interim champ Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on November 17th from Montreal. Hendricks faces the task of winning another high level bout, this time against Martin Kampmann. While the prospect may not excite him, Hendricks knows what he has to do to eventually accomplish his goal.

UFC Fan Expo in July to host more than 50 stars under one roof

The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that more than 50 UFC and Strikeforce stars are scheduled to appear at the UFC Fan Expo on Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Fans will have the chance to meet their favorite stars during autograph sessions, Q&A sessions, meet and greets, training and development seminars and other special events. The UFC Fan Expo is coinciding with UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II.
Fighters scheduled for the UFC Fan

Undefeated Sambo Champ, Vitaly Minakov, signs with Bellator

Bellator Fighting Championships has just announced the addition of a new heavyweight fighter to their roster: Vitaly Minakov (8-0). Minakov is a four-time World Sambo Champion and comes into the promotion with an unblemished record and a recent knockout victory of Bellator veteran Eddie Sanchez; his third knockout win in his last four victories.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said today via press release: “There has been tremendous buzz about Vitaly worldwide. He has an incredible Sambo background

Junior dos Santos agrees to random blood draws in his fight against PEDs

Today news surfaced that UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has continued his outspoken stance against the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in MMA. After going through a veritable circus surrounding the 14:1 T:E levels of his original opponent Alistair Overeem before UFC 146, he subsequently found out that his replacement foe Frank Mir was indeed on Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Mir’s use was regulated and approved of by the commission, and it did not seem to help him, as dos Santos

Shogun Rua and the UFC are back on the same page

Recently, Dana White stated that Mauricio Shogun Rua was taking the strong stance of rather being cut by the UFC than fight Glover Texeira. Texeira was considered as the next opponent for Rua after his original opponent Thiago Silva was injured before their UFC on Fox 4 bout. This seemed to have caused some controversy between White and Rua’s team, who ultimately settled on a fight with Brandon Vera as the event’s headliner. When asked about White’s insinuation, Rua’s manager Julio Heller stepped up to

Where Are They Now? 2007 Pound-for-Pound Rankings Edition

Where Are They Now? A Look Back At The 2007 P4P RankingsIt’s truly amazing to see how fast the landscape can change in a sport that continues to grow as rapidly as MMA does. It’s been 5 years since 2007, which in this sport is practically a generation bordering on an eternity. And yet without fail, our surroundings are once again drastically different from what they were. Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson are all newly prominent parts of the p4p picture,