(Lashley vs. Sapp: Battle of the Flared Nostrils)

— In a new contribution for MMA Fanhouse, Ariel Helwani reports that former WWE-star Bobby Lashley will take on infamous fighter/actor/pitchman Bob Sapp at a June 27th pay-per-view event in Biloxi, Mississippi, organized by Prize Fight Promotions. Lashley increased his MMA record to 2-0 last month with an underwhelming decision victory over Jason Guida at "March Badness," while Sapp’s last two fights were a win over a cartoon character and a dreadful loss to Jan Nortje. No other names have been announced for this monumental fight card yet.

— Renato "Babalu" Sobral has pulled out of his June 6th Strikeforce light-heavyweight title defense against Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, because the due date of his next child falls too close to the event. According to Sobral’s manager Richard Wilner, Sobral originally accepted a Strikeforce fight for May, but the May date was instead taken by the first Sho MMA: Strikeforce Challengers show, and Sobral was told that his fight would be moved to June. "We basically said okay, but about three days after that, the doctors confirmed that Babalu’s baby was meant to be born on May 24," Wilner said. Sobral expects to return in August. As for Feijao, he will likely still compete on the June 6th "Lawler vs. Shields" card against a yet-unnamed opponent, and hopes to get a shot at Babalu’s belt when the champ returns.


— Featherweight rising star Jose Aldo will return to the cage at WEC 41 (June 7th; Sacramento, CA), where he’ll take on Cub Swanson. The 22-year-old Aldo is 4-0 in the WEC, with stunning stoppage victories over Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Jonathan Brookins, Rolando Perez, and Chris Mickle. Swanson is 3-1 in the WEC, most recently taking a decision over Hiroyuki Takaya last December; his only loss in his last 14 fights came at the hands of Jens Pulver in December 2007. WEC 41 will be headlined by the rematch between Mike Brown and Urijah Faber.

— Mark Munoz‘s UFC debut last month ended with his lights getting turned out hard by a Matt Hamill head kick. So, he’s decided to regroup and move down to middleweight, where he’ll face Nick Catone at UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Oregon). Catone has split his two Octagon appearances, dispatching Derek Downey via keylock in February, then getting choked choked out by Tim Credeur in April. UFC 102 will be headlined by the heavyweight fight between Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and will also feature Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera, Junior Dos Santos vs. Justin McCully, and Chael Sonnen vs. Wilson Gouveia.