Tonight’s UFC on FOX event is looking to be one for the ages, Potato Nation. The alcohol-fueled spirit of Cinco De Mayo has overtaken most, if not all, of the U.S of A by this point, and I’m no exception, so lets skip the fancy introductions and get right to it.

Preliminary results
-Karlos Vemola def. Mike Massenzio by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:07 of round two.
-Roland Delorme def. Nick Denis by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:59 of round one.
-Dennis Bermudez def. Pablo Garzo by UD
-Danny Castillo def. John Cholsih by UD
-Louis Gaudinot def. John Lineker by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:54 of round 2
-John Hathaway def. Paskal Krauss by UD
-John Dodson def. Tim Elliot by UD
-Michael Johnson def. Tony Ferguson by UD

A couple musings from the prelims:

-Apparently some McDonald’s Happy Meals DO come with Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelts. Just ask Mike Massenzio.

-Nick Denis has a ridiculous rat tail, but it can’t match up with Roland Delorme’s iron chin. What an amazing round of action that was.

(Paula Sack make Hulk giggle)

We are all used to seeing Rousimar Palhares freak the fuck out and tear off people’s limbs. But it isn’t too often that we get to see a softer side of the UFC on Fox 3 middleweight competitor.

Paula Sack visited Palhares while he crushed it in the weight room during his training camp for his fight against Alan Belcher. As you will see at around the 1:14 mark of the below video, Paula’s charms turn the hulk-smashing, cage-climbing Palhares into a blushing, giggling, pile of muscle.

We can’t be sure, but it was kinda like this. To be fair to Palhares, this is what Paula Sack looks like.

Check out the video after the jump.

UFC middleweight contender Rousimar Palhares is finally getting help, people. Palhares recently told MMA Fighting‘s new star Dave Doyle that he’s been seeing a sports psychologist, and that he expects it to help him Saturday night against Alan Belcher on the UFC on Fox 3 card. ”‘Yeah he’s helped me,’ Palhares said through interpreter and manager Alex David. ‘He’s helped so that when I get into a fight, I get focused on the fight and I don’t get distracted by anything else,’” Doyle reports.

Palhares has provided some of the most scarily entertaining moments in MMA in recent years. Most of those moments were nasty submissions, but a good amount have also just come from his bizarre behavior in the ring.

(Is there anyway we could get the guy on the far right to…what’s the word I’m looking for….leave?) 

Since the UFC has made its conversion to a major network, they’ve had their fair share of ups and downs. Their first event, though featuring a match that could headline any pay-per-view, was little more than an hour long infomercial for the sport, topped off by the shortest title fight this side of Andrei Arlovski’s flash knockout of Paul Buentello back at UFC 55. Their second event was forced to shuffle around its main card participants as a result of Mark Munoz’s grisly injury, resulting in two mediocre bouts and a tepid main event. And don’t even get us started on Jon Jones’ commentary.

However, not all is lost (unless we’re talking about last week’s TUF ratings. Bazinga!), for this Saturday’s card promises to deliver the kind of head-to-toe action that mainstream and hardcore audiences alike have been waiting for. It’s got a Diaz, a Miller, a cartoon character, and a mythical swamp beast on its main card alone, so what could possibly go wrong? But just in case the Zuffa brass are looking for a few extra pointers from a fan’s perspective, we’ve compiled the following list of five things that would surely elevate UFC on FOX 3 above that of its predecessors. Enjoy, and let us know what other improvements could be made to the UFC on FOX in the comments section.

5. Tito Ortiz Return to his Role as a Ringside Commentator

FOX is a network that prides itself on being the voice of the simple, common man. And there is perhaps no man simpler than that of Tito Ortiz. Let’s be real here; Ortiz’s night of commentary at Affliction: Day of Reckoning was easily the funniest Goddamn moment in the history of MMA, bar none. Brian Fantana could not muster one-tenth of its hilarity if he were to report on every Panda birth from here to Chongqing, and we should give “The People’s Champ” another go-around for comedic purposes only. Besides, when was the last time ringside commentary really blew your mind? We love Joe Rogan and all, but we’d be much more inclined to stick around after the fight if there was a possibility that the announcer in question would suffer an aneurysm whilst trying to determine his next word.

On the heels of what was a hugely successful (both in terms of action and PPV sales) UFC 145, the UFC will look to keep the momentum going with this weekend’s UFC on FOX 3 card, which features a smorgasbord of great match-ups (praise be to Joe Silva). And the only way to make a great thing even better would be to walk away with a little extra moolah, don’t you think? Because, to paraphrase what Bobby McFerrin once said, “If you don’t have cash, you don’t have style, and you sure as hell don’t have a gal to make you smile.” Something like that. So check out the tasty betting lines below, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and follow us after the jump for some sound advice that will surely score you one out of the three McFerrin keys to success. And don’t worry, none of the spreads are as insane as the current Akihiro Gono/Michael Chandler odds, which more closely resemble your chances of sleeping with Halle Berry, winning the lottery, and surviving a public bus fire in the same day. 

Main Card 
Jim Miller (-220) vs. Nate Diaz (+180)
Pat Barry (-210) vs. Lavar Johnson (+175)
Johny Hendricks (-120) vs. Josh Koscheck (+100)
Rousimar Palhares (-280) vs. Alan Belcher (+240)

Preliminary Card
Dennis Bermudez (-175) vs. Pablo Garza (+145)
Tony Ferguson (-270) vs. Michael Johnson (+210)
John Dodson (-400) vs. Tim Elliot (+300)*
Pascal Krause (-140) vs. John Hathaway (+110)*
John Linker (-150) vs. Louis Gaudinot (+120)*
John Cholish (-130) vs. Danny Castillo (EV)*
Roland Delorme (-130) vs. Nick Denis (EV)*
Mike Massenzio (-185) vs. Karlos Vemola (+145)*

*These lines are taken from Opposingviews.com, which has far different lines than BestFightOdds for the main card fights. They are the only site, however, with current odds for the given fights. 

Thoughts…

Demian Maia is a tough fighter to wrap your head around. One day, the onetime middleweight contender is choking out Chael Sonnen and handling a guy like Jorge Santiago the next he’s being dominated by Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman. The one thing the Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout, who is 9-4 in the Octagon has lacked in his career is consistency, which explains why he’s ready perhaps to make a change.

Maia, who admits he sometimes struggles to maintain his 198-pound walking around weight, told Tatame recently that he’s been thinking  about dropping down a weight class to fight at 170 pounds.

(What do you mean marrow is not a flavor?!!) 

We have all heard the legend of Rousimar Palhares. Born in a radioactive swamp deep in the Brazilian jungle, “Toquinho” was raised in captivity, locked in a dark, damp cellar that only received 15 minutes of sunlight a day. It was a cruel, traumatizing upbringing, but the townspeople agreed that it was the only way to maintain the utopia they had built. Living off bread crumbs and rage for the first 20 years of his life, Palhares vowed to seek revenge on those who had enslaved him. Unfortunately for the world, he could only see the ankles of his overlords through a crack beneath the bolted steel door that held him, so his curse did not have the luxury of extending to only those who entered Camp Crystal Lake, or she who read from the Necronomicon. If you were born with a pair of ankles, then Palhares is coming for you.

Thankfully, “Toquinho” celebrated his 32nd birthday last Sunday, so the appendages of mankind have been granted a reprieve for a couple more days. Why, you ask? Well as it turns out, this past Sunday went down as a particularly special birthday for the middleweight mangling machine, as it was the first one in which he was given a cake. Unfortunately, his friends and family decided to throw a surprise party for this glorious celebration. There were no survivors.

Check out Rousimar’s reaction to the surprise after the jump.

(*Hello darkness, my old friend*…just to be clear, we’re referring to the darkness that accompanies being choked unconscious, not Jay Silva.)

To say that Kendall Grove has seen some ups and downs in his MMA career since winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter would be an understatement. After defeating Ed Herman by ultra close unanimous decision to earn the coveted glass plaque, Grove would tack up two more submission wins over Chris Price and Alan Belcher. It seemed as if the lanky middleweight had the world in the palm of his hand, destined to follow Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans as the new breed of MMA stars to make their name off the show.

And then it all fell apart.

Grove would drop his next two via form of KO to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera, and though he would follow up the pair of losses with victories over Evan Tanner (R.I.P.) and Jason Day, we would never see Grove rise above the rank of gatekeeper in his UFC run. He would go 2-4 in his next six, and would be ousted from the UFC after dropping a UD to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130 in Boetsch’s middleweight debut.

After scoring a quick submission win and evening the score with Joe Riggs, Grove out grappled Japanese sensation Ikuhisa Minowa at a Pro Elite event last month that we here at CP gave an official score of “meh.” Would last night’s SCC 4 card house “Da Spyda’s” first three fight win streak since 2007?

(And, yes, Dana has unblocked us on Twitter…Baby steps, right?)

UFC president Dana White announced this afternoon that a middleweight bout between Rousimar “The Kneejerk“ Palhares and Alan “The Talent” Belcher has been signed for the May 5 UFC on Fox 3 card.

The event, which will take place at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will also feature Jim Miller versus Nate Diaz and Josh Koscheck versus Johny Hendricks on the main card.

Our thoughts exactly. Props: MMAMania

Coming into last night’s UFC Fight Night 25, Jake Shields was in a lose-lose situation. He was presented with an opponent, Jake Ellenberger, who was facing his first real step up in competition. A victory over him wouldn’t necessarily propel Shields back to the top of the welterweight division. If Jake Shields lost, well, Jake Shields isn’t going to lose this one so let’s not worry about it. Last night was going to be Jake Shield’s first step towards living up to the hype that surrounded him when he entered the UFC and getting back in the mix for a shot at the welterweight title. There was only one problem: That didn’t happen. In just under one minute, Jake Ellenberger practically ended the Jake Shields era.

This isn’t to say that it’s over for Jake Shields, or that he still can’t work his way back to relevance in the welterweight division. But it’s certainly over for the myth that Jake Shields is still one of the top fighters out there. Last night, Jake Shields couldn’t implement his game plan because Jake Ellenberger was able to stuff his takedown attempts. It wasn’t “What did Shields do wrong”; it was what Ellenberger did right. He was the better fighter, plain and simple. And let’s not entertain the thought of “early stoppage” any more than we had to after hearing Jake Shields imply it last night. When you take a knee directly to the chin, immediately turtle up, and then try to grapple with the referee who pulls your opponent off of you, you have no business saying that the fight was stopped early. If you didn’t think Shields was out when you first watched that fight, watch it again while you still can.

(Man, you know Dana’s heart isn’t in this one when he can’t even be bothered to put on a funky t-shirt. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this album, click here.)

We told you why you should watch, and we told you how we think it’ll go down. At this point, it’s in God’s hands.

Tonight in New Orleans, Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger will lock horns in a pivotal welterweight contest. Will Shields shows flashes of his old submission-machine self, or will Ellenberger spoil the party in the Big Easy?

Plus: Middleweights Alan Belcher and Jason MacDonald kick off the main card, and Court McGee and Jonathan Brookins take the next steps in their post-TUF careers. Meanwhile on pay-per-view, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is boxing Victor Ortiz, and hell, maybe we’ll give you updates on that one as well.

Live round-by-round updates from the Spike TV broadcast of “UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger” will be piling up after the jump starting at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Here, we, go.

(McGee vs. Yang, the middleweight showdown that UFC fans have been…wait a minute, remind me again who Yang is?)

Unless you’re one of those Bud Light ‘Battle on the Bayou’ contest winners, you’re probably not overly excited about Saturday’s “Shields vs. Ellenberger” UFC event on Spike. Boxing already has Saturday night locked up, with Floyd Mayweather‘s ring-return against 24-year-old WBC Welterweight champ Victor Ortiz, and it feels like UFC Fight Night 25 will be an overlooked prelude to next week’s Jones vs. Rampage card.

But let’s not admit defeat so soon. We’ll be liveblogging the Shields vs. Ellenberger main card on CagePotato.com starting at 9 p.m. ET, and it would be nice if a few of you showed up to keep us company. Could it be one of those “crap on paper, bonkers in reality” events? Who knows, but consider the following…

All Eyes on Jake: So far, Jake Shields‘s UFC career has consisted of an underwhelming (and razor-thin) split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann, and a rout at the hands of Georges St. Pierre. His dominant stretch of eight-straight stoppage victories in 2006-2009 are a distant memory in the minds of MMA fans, and he needs a dramatic win here, badly. Shields’s dance partner, Jake Ellenberger, has been spent years fighting for recognition, and with four straight Octagon wins over serious competition, he’s starting to get it. Stylistically, the fight might not be a barn-burner, but it could have career-altering implications for the headliners.

VidProps: WorldMartialArts/YouTube

Duke Roufus knows a thing or two about kicking. Also about punching. Oh, and knees and elbows, too.

Hmmm. Let’s start over…

Duke Roufus knows a thing or two about striking, and since his retirement from kickboxing competition, he’s passed along his knowledge to fighters from the Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pat Barry, Danny Downes, Matt Mitrione, Anthony Pettis (and his little bro Sergio), Alan Belcher, Ben Askren, and Eric Koch (and more) have all spent time with Duke sharpening their stand up skills, and Roufus has been credited with pushing innovation in MMA striking. Belcher’s cage-spring superman punch and Pettis’ Showtime Kick were both attributed to training with Roufus, because they apparently practice that kind of crazy stuff over there.

But we must remember the words of Mr Miyagi: “first learn stand, then learn fly.”

Watch this video of Roufus breaking down technique for Thai-style low kicks. Watch it twice, then go find a bamboo tree. Kick that bamboo tree until it falls. You’re now halfway to being a Roufusninja, and don’t leave us comments about how bamboo is technically grass. That’s bullshit. No one ever became a ninja by kicking grass; that’s clearly a moronic idea. You think Tony Jaa took a level in badass by kicking over blades of grass? Absolutely not. He kicked down trees and made friends with elephants.

As far as we know, Duke Roufus does not have an elephant friends. What he does have is this video of kicking technique, and you need to quit arguing and watch it.

[RX]

(“I’m fighting Jason who??”)

The UFC announced today that UFC middleweight contender Alan Belcher’s first fight back from a career-threatening eye injury will be against New Glasgow, Nova Scotia native Jason MacDonald in the Biloxi, Mississippi native’s backyard of New Orleans, Louisiana on September 17. The event is aptly named UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou.

4-1 in his last 5 outings including wins over Wilson Gouveia, Patrick Cote, Denis Kang and Ed Herman and a questionable split decision loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama, Belcher (16-6) was mentioned as a potential championship contender before a detached retina sidelined him for almost a year. Although MacDonald (25-15) is by no means a cake walk fight for Belcher, it’s likely that the bout with the recently re-signed Canadian is thought of by the UFC brass as more of a tune-up fight for “The Talent.”

(Belcher, seen here prior to getting that giant picture of Carl Perkins tattooed on his left arm. Pic: TigerMuayThai.com)

If Alan Belcher manages to return from the detached retina that nearly ended his career last year and can recapture anything close to the 4-1 form he showed during his five most recent fights in the Octagon, it’ll be one of 2011’s true feel good stories. Belcher has always struck us as one of the sport’s more likable characters, so when he tells Sherdog this week that he’s interested in returning to the UFC as soon as September, that’s great news. Only thing is, we wish Belcher would show just a touch more originality in deciding who he wants to fight in his comeback bout. Pretty much the usual suspects here:

“(Michael) Bisping is an asshole who disrespects the sport and his opponent,” Belcher tells the Dog. “A fight between me and Michael Bisping is something everybody wants except for Michael Bisping. It would be amazing to sign that fight and have him come to my backyard. He always gets to fight in Britain and other places, but it’d be good to see him come down to Louisiana. I’d love for that to be my comeback fight.”

Yep. Bisping. The ol’ standby. And in case you’re wondering, Belcher wouldn’t turn down a fight with Wanderlei Silva, either, though he sounds a little more reasonable about Silva’s standing in the division than some of the other dudes who’ve called out “The Axe Murderer” recently …

(“Screw what I said about business as usual. Let’s make some fan-fucking-tastic fights for this card.”)

With the UFC’s landmark Rio card fast approaching, we thought we’d sit down and think about a handful of bouts we as fans (and pseudo-reporters) would REALLY like to see added to the card.

(We’re looking at you Royce. Seriously. Walk away, dude.)

Check out what we came up with after the jump.

(“Thank you Jesus for letting me punch people asleep. bro.”)

Tatame.com recently caught up with Vitor Belfort to talk to him about what’s coming down the pipe and the UFC middleweight touched on a few interesting topics including the fact that an agreed upon match-up with Wanderlei Silva fell through for unknown reasons and his desire to make it on the UFC Rio card.

According to “The Phenom,” who says he has recovered from his UFC 127 loss to Anderson Silva and is in a “good state of mind,” in spite of UFC president Dana White’s recent assertion that “The Axe Murderer” accepted the bout, he says Silva decided that a fight with Chris Leben would be an easier test for himself.

(“Duck you? No, bro. I joined a monastery in Istanbul.”)

In spite of the fact that he has a May dance date with Brian Stann set for UFC 130, Wanderlei Silva seems more focused on erasing a nearly 12-and-a-half-year-old loss from his record than his upcoming opponent.

Speaking with Tatame yesterday, “the Axe Murderer” called out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort — the man who handed him the second loss of his MMA career.

Read what Wand had to say after the jump.

UFC Ultimate Insider 125 – Watch more Funny Videos

Well, it’s official. Brian Stann will look to pull the rug out from under Wanderlei Silva’s UFC career by attempting to hand the former dangerous PRIDE champ his fourth UFC loss and preventing him from picking up his third win in the past five years when he steps into the Octagon with "The Axe Murderer" May 28 at UFC 130 in Las Vegas. The news was confirmed at the tail end of the latest episode of the UFC’s Ultimate Insider show released this morning.

It’s interesting to note that the majority of UFC middleweights on the cusp of becoming contenders  –  from Michael Bisping to Alan Belcher – ask specifically to face Wand despite the fact that he hasn’t been a contender for quite some time. It’s like he’s the guy guarding the gate to the title shot queue and they have to go through him to get there. 

Both fighters are likeable and it’s unlikely that there will be much (if any) pre-fight smack talk. This one is about the fight, and it’s pretty much a given that’s what we’re going to get on May 28. The tough part will be trying to decide who to root against.

Alan Belcher has been hinting for a while with tweets like the one above that he will soon be returning to the UFC.

"The Talent" has been sidelined since sustaining a career-threatening partially detached retina last summer while training for his UFN 22 bout with Demian Maia, but according to one of his Remix MMA students he has been given the OK by his eye specialist to compete once again and is eyeing (no pun intended) a May or June return to the Octagon.

Here’s what amateur fighter Rodney Derouen said about the situation on MixedMartialArts.com’s Underground forum today:

A Maia redo or a scrap with Bisping both sound good to me. Discuss.

(Wanderlei vs. Alan will likely happen in April in Toronto since Leben likely won’t be getting across the Canadian border any time soon.)

Alan Belcher got some good news this week regarding the future of his up-in-the-air MMA career.

The UFC 26-year-old middleweight contender was informed by his ophthalmologist during a check-up yesterday that he can resume physical training and that he may get the go-ahead to start light sparring in the coming weeks.

The news came as a welcome surprise for the Biloxi, Mississippi native who suffered a potential career-ending eye injury earlier this year.

"There’s no doubt I miss [training and fighting]; I miss it bad," Belcher told MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta today. "I was the kind of guy I’d be training almost every day. You’d have to make me stop because I love it so much. But I did it because it was fun and it makes me feel good about myself. This has been the longest break I’ve taken from training in my entire sports life. I’ve trained every week, almost every day since I was a kid. I started martial arts at eight years old and haven’t missed more than a week, so it was really weird doing nothing for months."

In a recent interview with Fighters Only, UFC president Dana White revealed that the next time Michael Bisping steps through the doors of the Octagon to compete, he will be staring across the cage at a top five opponent.

Considering the options, it’s a pretty safe bet that said opponent will be the loser of the UFC 122 bout between Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt.

Let’s look at the simple deductive reasoning we used that helped us come to our conclusion:

(VidProps: YouTube/ArielHelwani)

After two surgeries to repair a detached retina in his right eye, Alan Belcher says his vision is still blurry and dark and he told Ariel Helwani backstage during UFC 119 on Saturday that he is “less than 50 percent” recovered. Nonetheless, if Belcher can avoid another surgery it is possible he could return to MMA action sometime next summer, he says.

“My doctor is optimistic and all the other doctors I’ve talked to are optimistic about it,” Belcher says. “It’s just, if I have more surgeries and other things go wrong, it could be a possibility that I can’t fight again. I just have to get all healed up and I have to pass the ophthalmology exam and I have to get my vision better. Right now it’s still blurry and I can’t really take the chance of hurting my other eye. (But) I’ll take the chance myself if the doctors will let me, I’ll get back in there no matter what.” 

 
(Belcher’s recovery from adetached retina isn’t going well, according to his wife.)

UFC middleweight Alan Belcher underwent a second surgery on his right eye Wednesday to repair a detached retina he thinks he suffered in training, and according to his wife, Ashlee, who sent out a few Twitter updates on "The Talent’s" day under the knife, his vision still isn’t where it should be.

Ashlee said that the next few weeks of healing are crucial in the prognosis of the injury.

(Video courtesy PureFight)

When it was announced that Alan Belcher was forced to pull out of his headlining September 15 UFC Fight Night bout with Demian Maia due to a detached retina he suffered in training, the news was met with a collective, "That sucks. Hopefully when he heals up, the UFC will match them up again."

According to Belcher, he may never get the opportunity to fight Maia again, or anyone else for that matter.

In an interview he did with  PureFight this week, the 26-year-old Biloxi, Mississippi fighter who revealed that he suffered irreparable vision loss as a result of the freak injury said that there is a chance he may never fight again.

Belcher says that he won’t know the extent of the injury or the success of the surgery for at least a couple of months and only then will he be able to assess whether or not continuing to fight will be an option for him or if he will have to walk away from the sport he loves.

("That’s it, go to sleeeeeeep." Alan Belcher and his little friend Johnny gang up on Patrick Cote at UFC 113. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

UFC middleweight contender (and unapologetic baby-choker) Alan Belcher confirmed yesterday that he won’t be able to headline UFC Fight Night 22 against Demian Maia, due to a detached retina. As he wrote:

While I was in brazil I started losing my vision in my right eye. I saw a dr that told me to go back to u.s. immediately. My friend/surgeon from biloxi got me an emergency surgery scheduled in alabama now just trying to recover. No contact for 6 weeks. Sorry to my trainers. Sorry to ufc & demian Maia, I know he has been training specifically for me. Sorry to my fans as well. As long as I get released from dr I will try to make ufn 22 to see my fans and watch the fights

In response, Demian Maia tweeted: "I dont know who will be my oponent. I think I still in the UFN 22 main event, but Im not sure. Ill let you guys know…"

In other words, Chris Leben should probably start warming up. The current lineup of UFN 22 (September 15th, Austin) is after the jump.

MMA Fighter Chokes Baby – Watch more Sports

Hopefully this will silence the haters who think Alan Belcher‘s grappling isn’t on Demian Maia’s level. MMAGirls.net brings us this video of the Talent demonstrating the ol’ RNC on his six-month-old daughter Ava, who already seems to understand that tapping out is for bitches. Watch as the level of concern in the room goes from "awww, what’s he doing to that baby?" to "seriously, what’s he doing to that baby." Belcher most recently finished Patrick Cote — a full-grown man — by the same technique at UFC 113.

Spike TV announced earlier today that their next UFC Fight Night event will go down September 15th at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The broadcast is expected to serve as the lead-in to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck. Headlining the fight card will be Demian Maia — returning from his unsuccessful (and bizarre) five-rounder against Anderson Silva in Abu Dhabi — against fellow middleweight contender Alan Belcher, who is coming off back-to-back stoppages of Wilson Gouveia and Patrick Cote. As the press release tells us, "A victory over Maia will elevate Belcher’s chances for a shot at Anderson’s coveted middleweight crown." Uh, I think you mean Sonnen’s middleweight crown, bro. The current lineup of "UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Belcher" is below. If you have any early predictions, let’s hear ‘em…

MAIN CARD (officially confirmed)
– Demian Maia vs. Alan Belcher (MW)
– Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig (LW; rematch of controversial UFC 115 fight)
– Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau* (LW)
– Ross Pearson vs. Cole Miller (LW)

PRELIMINARY CARD (reported but not yet confirmed)
- Efrain Escudero vs. John Gunderson
– Nick Catone vs. Tomasz Drwal
– Kyle Kingsbury vs. Jared Hamman

* Fun fact: According to Wikipedia, Gleison Tibau’s birth name is Janigleison Herculano Alves. Weird.

(Grudge? What Grudge?)

In a new interview with TATAME, Demian Maia takes the high road in discussing his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 112 in April, saying that he would prefer to talk about the future and not dwell on the past, no matter how douchebag-like Silva acted during their bout.

He did say that he truly believes that Chael Sonnen has a legitimate chance at beating the usually dominant champion and that he feels the only way to stop the Team Quest fighter from controlling the fight would be for Anderson to dedicate a large portion of his training to both his defensive and offensive jiu-jitsu games.

"I sure do [think Chael can beat Anderson]. He has a really tough game and it’s hard for anyone to beat him. He has a good takedown, has a good ground game, he’s very big and strong in comparison with the other athletes of the division. It’s a hard fight for everyone because he brings you down and is a hell of a hitter. You have to have a great guard to fight him, otherwise it becomes very hard fight for you. Let’s see what will happen."

(Johnny Cash says, ‘Goodnight, sweet prince’)

A middleweight clash between Demian Maia and Alan "The Talent" Belcher has been verbally agreed to for Ultimate Fight Night 22 on September 15 according to a report by MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani.

The bout, which could make or break Belcher’s bid for a title shot, considering Maia just lost to current UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva and has been relegated to the back of the growing queue of contenders, will likely be the main event of the show that will lead in to the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 12 on SPIKE TV.