Remember the good ol’ days?

Another weekend is here, bringing us another batch of fights confirmed by the UFC for future events. You know the drill. This weekend, a total of five fights have been announced, two for UFC 135 in September and three for October 29^th’s UFC 137.

Yesterday the UFC announced the addition of a featherweight bout between Manny Gamburyan and Diego Nunes to the prelims of UFC 135. Expect Manny Gamburyan to be fighting with an extra sense of urgency in this one. The TUF 5 runner-up has lost two straight fights in Zuffa, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Tyson Griffin at UFC Live 4: Kongo vs. Barry. Three straight losses would more than likely grant Gamburyan his walking papers. Likewise, Diego Nunes was last seen at UFC 131, where he lost to Kenny Florian via unanimous decision in Florian’s featherweight debut.

A bantamweight fight between Cole Escovedo and Takeya Mizugaki has also been added to UFC 135. Escovedo was last seen at UFC 130 in May, where he lost by unanimous decision to the impossibly long named Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado, aka Renan Barao. “The Apache Kid” is 1-3 in his last four fights and needs to build some momentum if he wants to stick around in the UFC. Likewise, since his Fight of the Year worthy performance against Miguel Torres, Takeya Mizugaki has gone 3-3 in Zuffa, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Brian Bowles at UFC 132.

Check after the jump for the fights added to UFC 137

(Video courtesy of Videobb/fightvideomma)

If you listened to The Bum Rush Radio Show this week (and we’re pretty sure at least some of you did, right mom?) you would know our collective feelings on the inevitability that Kenny Florian would be handed another undeserved title shot if he beat Diego Nunes at UFC 131. Well, according to UFC president Dana White, KenFlo “pretty much” has dibs on Jose Aldo when the champ returns from nursing a nagging shoulder injury.

When asked at the post-UFC 131 press conference if Florian’s win earned him a shot at Aldo, White answered succinctly, “More than likely. How’s that for confirmation?” before adding “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He deserves a shot at the title. No doubt about it.”

If you’ve ever wondered how Cage Potato sneaks into UFC events, let’s just say it involves matching black baseball hats. Props: MMAConnected.com

Look, I get it. Vancouver fans are extremely excited about their Canucks winning 1-0 at home on Friday, putting the team one win away from taking the Stanley Cup. I’m more than willing to forgive those in attendance for being less than excited about UFC 131, an MMA event absent of title fights, or even some fellow Canadians on the main card. I’ll forgive the chants of “Go Canucks Go” and “We Want The Cup” that broke out throughout the evening. I’ll even forgive them for being won over by Jon Olav Einemo’s Canucks flag. But not watching the fights you’re supposed to be judging? That’s unacceptable.

There were some downright awful decisions made by the judges last night, causing some to wonder if they even watched the fights. Fortunately for Junior Dos Santos, his beating of Shane Carwin was too lopsided to possibly mess up. No doubt, Dos Santos looked impressive against Shane Carwin. Not only did he survive some of Shane’s hardest punches, but he also displayed some improved wrestling. He even managed to make Carwin look gun-shy, which seemed unthinkable. There were numerous times throughout the fight where it seemed crazy that Junior Dos Santos was fighting the same guy that almost dethroned Brock Lesnar. Before we get too excited though, remember that Shane Carwin managed to survive all three rounds, despite being a late replacement coming off of surgery. Time will tell how Dos Santos holds up against Cain Valesquez.

At that exact moment, as he stepped on the scales, he was haunted by the thought that he’d left his oven on. And that was the beginning of the end for Shane Carwin. (Pic: UFC.com)

This card was dealt a serious blow when PPV kingpin Brock Lesnar dropped out due to his ongoing battle with diverticulitis, and the hits just kept coming. Despite the constant deck shuffling, Joe Silva’s cooked up a decent batch of chicken salad, setting up a headlining bout that in many ways is more compelling than the original and a few match-ups that pose some interesting questions. How will a Jenny Craig’d Carwin perform in his first fight back after undergoing surgery? Will Florian finally find a stable home at 145lbs? Can you even call it “ring rust” after a five year layoff?

A lot of tonight’s fights are tough to call, but we’ll call them just the same. If you tuned in to YouTube or Facebook for the pre-prelims, you were treated to copious amounts of leather (and some questionable judging). We’ll hold off on the results of those fights and the Spike undercard in case they make it to the PPV broadcast. As always, your witty and insightful comments are more than welcome. Your shitty ones, not so much.

Yessir, we’ve got another $50 store credit to MMAOutlet.com burning a hole through our pants, and we’re holding another fight-picking competition this week to determine its rightful owner.

This Saturday night, UFC 131 goes down in Vancouver, headlined by a heavyweight #1 contender fight between Junior Dos Santos and Shane Carwin, and a featherweight feature between Kenny Florian and Diego Nunes. If you want a crack at this week’s prize, post your predictions for these two fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage (if any). Basically, your entry should be in this format:

(Photographic proof of how the UFC contributed to  Aldo’s injury. That’s a slam dunk insurance claim right there.)

With the UFC featherweight title picture out of focus until champ Jose Aldo heals from a nagging shoulder injury, a question that was recently brought up was what happens if Diego Nunes beats Kenny Florian Saturday night at UFC 131? Surely, he won’t fight a teammate, since that’s a faux pas in Brazil, right?

Think again.

According to Aldo’s longtime trainer and Nova Uniao founder Andre Pederneiras, “Everyone from Nova Uniao knows that if they have to fight against each other, they will.”

What are you trying to say? Trouble at the old mill? Someone fall through the ice? Bobcat?

It’s yet to be confirmed by the UFC, but it would appear that former lightweight contender Kenny Florian will be fighting Diego Nunes when he makes his featherweight debut at UFC 131. The Vancouver card will be headlined by a heavyweight number one contender’s match between Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar. Oh yeah, Shane Carwin is on board for this one, too.

KenFlo said that he wanted to fight a top contender, and Diego Nunes certainly fits the criteria. “The Gun” has gone 5-1 under the Zuffa banner and is currently riding a three fight win streak. His most recent outing was a split decision victory over former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown back at UFC 125 in January. As for Florian, since losing his most recent title fight to BJ Penn back at UFC 101, KenFlo has gone 2-1, notching victories over Clay Cuida and Takanori Gomi before losing a decision to Gray Maynard at UFC 118.

-Seth Falvo

("That’s it. Diet starts tomorrow.")

After getting put to sleep by Nate Diaz at UFC 118 — his third loss in four attempts — Marcus Davis announced his intention to drop to lightweight. According to MMA Junkie, the Irish Hand Grenade’s 155-pound debut will take place at the UFC’s stacked New Year’s Day card in Las Vegas against Jeremy Stephens, who publicly requested to be Davis’s first lightweight opponent. Stephens most recently lost a split decision to Melvin Guillard at UFC 119.

Another likely matchup for UFC 125: Resolution will be former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown making his promotional return against Diego Nunes. Brown made a single UFC appearance as a lightweight back at UFC 47 in 2004, losing by first-round submission to Genki Sudo. He most recently scored a quick TKO over Cole Province at WEC 51 in September. Representing Nova Uniao, Nunes has put together a 4-1 record in the WEC, and is coming off of consecutive decision wins against Raphael Assuncao and Tyler Toner.

The tentative lineup for UFC 125 is after the jump…