(According to legend, the million-dollar-bill-pitbull is a symbol representing the eternal struggle between Brazil’s elitist class and the unappreciated proletariat. Or it’s just something you get done when you’re really, really, high on shrooms.) 

Paulo Filho is kind of like the Lindsay Lohan of MMA. Sure, there was a time back in the early-to-mid 2000′s when he showed the potential for greatness (or at least mediocrity), but since then, it’s been a steady mixture of cocaine, terrible tattoos, and a series of cancelled fights punctuated by depressing performances in the ones he actually managed to show up for. Substitute “fights” with “films” and you’ve got yourself one surprisingly accurate comparison.

But just as Lohan continues to get acting gigs (this is acting, right?), Filho continues to convince fight promoters that he is a reliable human being in the loosest sense of the word. So despite the many, many warning signs, Filho has recently been booked against UFC veteran Dave Branch on the main card of the second World Series of Fighting event set to transpire March 23rd. As much as we’d like to believe Filho truly does have his shit together this time around, we simply can’t be burned by this flake again. This…this will not end well.

Featuring a headlining heavyweight matchup between Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson, WSOF 2 has also recently booked a pair of familiar faces against a couple unknown, undefeated prospects. Those newly announced matchups are after the jump…

(“Damn it. I know I came in here for something…” Photo via Strikeforce)

As if we needed any more evidence that Strikeforce is shutting down after their next event, check this out: Orange County Register reports that veteran banger Robbie Lawler will make his first UFC appearance in over eight years when he faces Josh Koscheck in a welterweight bout at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Feburary 23rd, Anaheim). The fight will also mark Lawler’s first match at 170 pounds since his knockout loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)

(“Thank you for this honor, Bader-san. I will now honor your ancestors by getting drunk on a boat and attending a foam party.” Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo! Sports)

The UFC’s spite-booking between light-heavyweight contenders Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida is close to being finalized. Sources close to the event have informed MMA Fighting that Hendo and Pervo have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 157, which will go down February 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The bout isn’t expected to be the card’s main event, which is still TBA at this point. Not that we wouldn’t want to speculate.

Due to a poorly-timed knee injury, Henderson has gone all of 2012 without a single Octagon appearance — not an ideal situation for a 42-year-old athlete, but at least the layoff has given him time to enroll in shit-talking school — while Machida is coming off his August knockout of Ryan Bader. The winner will likely take on Jon Jones, after he champ finishes thrashing Chael Sonnen in April. (No, I’m still not going to give Sonnen a chance, no matter how many insulting specialty pizzas he creates.)

(Overeem and Silva [2nd and 3rd from left], back when they were just a couple of hungry up-and-comers, competing in something called a ‘Strikeforce’. / Photo via FCFighter.com)

The UFC has confirmed that heavyweight behemoth Alistair Overeem will return to the Octagon at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar (February 2nd, Las Vegas), where he’ll face Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. According to UFC.com, the bout “has been scheduled pending licensing approval of Overeem by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That decision will be finalized in early 2013.”

Overeem’s most recent appearance was at UFC 141 last December, where he smoked Brock Lesnar in the first round. Following that fight, Overeem was booked to challenge Junior Dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title, but failed a random NSAC drug test in stupendous fashion, and was barred from licensing for nine months. Overeem blamed the test result on “an anti-inflammatory medication that was mixed with testosterone” prescribed by his doctor, which ranks just below Antonio Silva’s “I took a testosterone-booster for my acromegaly” excuse on the believability scale. (Yes, the winner of this fight will be a former steroid suspect, and so will the loser.) Overeem will be able to re-apply for licensure in Nevada next month.

(Alternate titles for the event include “Strikeforce: All’s Well That Enswell” and ”Strikeforce: Operation Frequent Wind. / Photo via Showtime Sports.)

Strikeforce continues to blow its talent wad for what might be the last event of its existence. As MMAJunkie reported on Friday, a compelling lightweight battle between KJ Noons vs. Ryan Couture has been added to January 12th lineup, and will likely take place on the Showtime Extreme-televised preliminary card.

Since coming up short against Nick Diaz during their Strikeforce welterweight title fight in October 2010, Noons has gone 1-2 at lightweight, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Josh Thomson at the Tate vs. Rousey card in March. Still, his sharp boxing and significant experience edge could make him a very tough match for Couture, who is riding a three-fight win streak. Couture won a split-decision over Joe Duarte in his last Strikeforce appearance at Rockhold vs. Kennedy, and was most recently spotted looking at a paint-clad Natasha Wicks with an expression that seemed to say, “You’re hot and everything, but my dad’s already manhandled you, so I don’t know.”

(“Hey girl, you must be a comb because you’re been running through my hair all day. Wait, no, I fucked that up.”)

The previously reported UFC/Strikeforce crossover bout between Frank Mir and Daniel Cormier finally has a date and location. According to new reports from MMAFighting and USA Today, the fight will headline a November 3rd Strikeforce card at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Barring some bizarre post-fight fiasco, both fighters are expected to head (back) to the UFC after the event, no matter the outcome of the match.

As Cormier told USA Today, “I am excited to be going back to Oklahoma for this fight because it’s been like my second home. My first fight was in Oklahoma, and the biggest fight of my Strikeforce career will be there…Fighting Frank Mir is an honor, as I’ve always viewed him as a great warrior and champion of the sport. This matchup shows that Zuffa is committed to putting me in big fights, and for that I thank them.”

Cormier is a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career, most recently outpointing Josh Barnett in the finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix. Cormier broke his right hand during the fight and was forced to undergo surgery. Mir’s last performance was a TKO loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146, which snapped a three-fight winning streak in the Octagon.

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is also expected to be on the 11/3 card, against an opponent to be named later. Update: Rockhold will defend his belt against former light-heavyweight contender Lorenz Larkin, whose middleweight debut in July resulted in a unanimous decision victory over Robbie Lawler.

(You mean to tell me that the guy lying face down in a pool of his own blood WAS ALIVE THE ENTIRE TIME?! No. F’ing. Way.) 

Not too long ago, it was announced that former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Jens Pulver had signed with Singapore-based upstart promotion OneFC, and were scheduled to compete on the August 31st scheduled ‘Pride of a Nation’ card against opponents that had yet to be named. Given the pair’s name power, not to mention their hard runs of luck as of late, it was assumed by most that they would likely be featured in a pair of squash matches to help build up their name (also, confidence) within the promotion. It now appears that we have severely underestimated the fellas at OneFC. Or overestimated, we’re not sure.

In either case, Arlovski has been booked to take on fellow UFC castaway and dangerous striker Soa Palelei, who is coming off a 12 second…we guess you’d call it beating, of Bob “Bitch Tits” Sapp at CFC 21 in May. And although just a few years ago, a guy like Palelei would never even be mentioned in the same breath as “The Pit Bull”, we may very likely see him listed as the favorite heading into this matchup as it stands today. Palelei packs a wallop of a punch and Arlvoski’s off switch is easier to find than a dwarf among midgets, so expect “The Hulk” to let his fists go early and often in this one and Arlovski to crumble violently to the mat shortly thereafter. Let’s just hope that Arlovski has finally undergone that Tango and Cash jaw replacement surgery he always wanted, or he is going to get royally FUBAR’d in this one.

(Chad’s the dead guy in the background.)

After getting utterly demolished by the much-larger Travis Browne during his Octagon debut at UFC 145, heavyweight prospect Chad Griggs has decided to drop to 205 pounds for his follow-up UFC appearance. Griggs was only 228 pounds when he hit the scales before his UFC debut — about as heavy as Jon Jones’s walking weight — making this a wise career choice on paper. The question is: Will Chad’s decision turn out to be good, bad, or ugly?

The Grave Digger certainly won’t be getting an easy welcome in his new division. According to MMA Weekly, Griggs will be returning at UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) against light-heavyweight contender Phil Davis, who suffered the first loss of his career in a decision against Rashad Evans in January. Before that, Davis had used his wrestling and grappling skills to dominate such tough competition as Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, Tim Boetsch, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In other words, Griggs’s takedown defense had better be airtight if he wants his puncher’s chance to be worth the fist it’s printed on.

UFC on FOX 4 is shaping up to be a real crowd-pleaser; the current lineup is after the jump…

(Just don’t come between Dave and his cubs.)

A pair of injuries have led to even more changes to the already chaotic UFC 146 lineup. As confirmed last night, heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight against Roy Nelson, and will be replaced by Dave Herman, who suffered a TKO loss to Stefan Struve in his last Octagon appearance. This is the second opponent switch for Nelson, who was originally supposed to face Antonio Silva on the “Dos Santos vs. Mir” card.

Meanwhile in the prelims, lightweight contender Evan Dunham is out of his fight against undefeated rising star Edson Barboza, and will be replaced by former WEC champ Jamie Varner. Since exiting the WEC after going 0-3-1 in 2010, Varner has won three of four fights outside the Zuffa fold, most recently stopping Drew Fickett in 40 seconds at XFC 16. However, all of Varner’s recent fights have come at 160-170 pounds, and one of those matches resulted in a loss to Dakota Cochrane, of all people. Will Varner be at a disadvantage trying to make 155 again on short notice? Will it even matter, considering that Barboza vs. Varner is the biggest UFC squash match of the year?

UFC 146 goes down May 26th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The current (but probably not final) lineup is after the jump…

(Don’t roll your eyes, Bader is a fine opponent.)

Fresh off his decision win over Quinton Jackson, light-heavyweight contender Ryan Bader will be returning to action at UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) against another former champion, Lyoto Machida. UFC.com confirmed the news yesterday evening. Machida most recently got choked to sleep by Jon Jones in December, which was his third loss in his last four appearances. With Bader riding another hot streak, could the Dragon be in trouble here?

Also on the card, heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell — who won UFC 145′s Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night bonuses, respectively — will be facing off in a guaranteed slugfest. (You’re welcome, Joe Silva.) Browne is still undefeated in his MMA career, with his last three victories coming against Chad Griggs, Rob Broughton, and Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Rothwell’s first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub finally established him as a legitimate threat in the UFC.

UFC on FOX 4 will also feature Hector Lombard’s Octagon debut against Brian Stann, and Joe Lauzon vs. Terry Etim.

(Rua slugs Dan Henderson during their epic bout in November. / Photo courtesy of Heavy)

A matchup between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Thiago Silva is likely for July 21st’s UFC 149 event in Calgary, according to a new report on MMA Junkie. UFC president Dana White tweeted yesterday that the two light-heavyweight strikers would face one another, but didn’t confirm the date or venue.

Silva is coming off of a one-year suspension and a decision loss to Alexander Gustafsson. Winless since his 2009 knockout of Keith Jardine, Silva’s contract may very well be on the line here. Shogun’s last bout, a five-round war/decision loss to Dan Henderson, was widely considered to be the greatest fight in MMA history until this past weekend.

(“Oh no, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just remembering this funny joke I heard about a guy who got punched in the head really hard.”)

The UFC has confirmed that their new middleweight signee Hector Lombard — best known as Bellator’s Angel of Death — will be making his first Octagon appearance against Brian Stann. UFC.com reports that the matchup will take place this August in Los Angeles, suggesting that it will go down at UFC on FOX 4.

Known for his inhuman power and massive physique, Lombard took to twitter last night to make a rather unique request: “Can we make a random drug test before my fight???” Lombard clearly wants to prove that his muscles are all natural — though once you request a random test, it’s not exactly random anymore. Ah well, he’ll get the hang of it.

In case you missed the update to yesterday’s rumor, top-five featherweight Hatsu Hioki will be facing Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida (June 22nd, Atlantic City), and Erik Koch is indeed the leading candidate to be the next challenger to Jose Aldo‘s belt.

If it seems that Koch is being pushed to a title shot a little too soon — especially coming off of a lengthy injury layoff — well, it’s not his fault. As UFC president Dana White explained to FOX Sports, Hioki was next in line, but insisted on getting “one more test before going for the belt.”

Let us now dissect the wisdom of Hioki’s decision…

(Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)

Jose Aldo‘s next opponent is close to being finalized, and from what we hear, it won’t be Hatsu Hioki or Frankie Edgar. A source close to Roufusport MMA Academy has informed CagePotato.com that 145-pound contender Erik Koch has been sent a contract to challenge Aldo for the UFC featherweight title. The fight would likely take place at UFC 147 in Brazil.

Until we can confirm this report with one of the fighters themselves, treat it as a rumor for now. We’ve contacted Koch’s manager, Mike Roberts of MMA Inc., but have yet to receive a response. Stay tuned.

Koch (13-1) is 2-0 in the UFC, including his Knockout of the Night win against Raphael Assuncao and a unanimous decision over TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins last September. He was scheduled to return against Dustin Poirier at UFC 143 in February, but had to withdraw due to injury.

Update: Hatsu Hioki will be facing Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FX 4, and Aldo vs. Koch is now very likely.

(Fun fact: Nogueira’s body is composed mainly of replacement parts from grave-robbed corpses.)

UFC 149 (July 21st, Calgary) is picking up some heavyweight muscle in the form of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cheick Kongo. The Calgary Sun first reported the matchup, adding that the event will likely be headlined by the Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson light-heavyweight title fight.

Big Nog is coming off his gruesome kimura loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140 in December, a defeat that had many fans and pundits pleading for the legend’s retirement. Following that fight, Nogueira said he expected to return within nine months. Just seven months later, he’ll be taking one more kick at the cat against a tough striker in Kongo, who ate a first-round TKO loss against Mark Hunt in his last outing. Still, you can’t count either of these guys out (see: Nog vs. Schaub, Kongo vs. Barry). Are you happy to see Nogueira back in the Octagon? And who do you think will be left standing?

In other booking news…

(In Brazilian culture, the “Easter Bunny” is two men, one small and one large, covered in body hair and scars. / Photo via SporTV)

It’s not Rolles Gracie, it’s not Bobby Lashley, and it’s not Todd Duffee. According to a tweet sent out today by M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan, Fedor Emelianenko‘s opponent at the June 21st M-1 event at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg will instead be three-time UFC heavyweight title contender Pedro Rizzo. Please, try to control your excitement.

A free-agent who’s been out of the elite circuit of MMA competition for years, Rizzo didn’t compete at all last year, partly due to an arm injury. Still, he’s riding a three-fight win streak dating back to September 2009, with victories over Jeff Monson, Gary Goodridge, and Ken Shamrock. Meanwhile, Fedor picked-up back-to-back wins over Monson and Satoshi Ishii late last year, which followed his disastrous 1-3 run in Strikeforce.

On one hand, Rizzo feels like a hand-picked opponent for Fedor. On the other hand, there aren’t many better options outside of the Zuffa umbrella. Anybody looking forward to this one?

(Jon Fitch is proudly sponsored by Dr. Remus’s Old-Timey Follicular Fertilizer and Invigorator for Males. / Photo courtesy of @jonfitchdotnet)

As first reported by MMAWeekly, UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch will make his next Octagon appearance against ex-middleweight Aaron Simpson, who will be dropping to 170 for the first time in his career. The fight, which hasn’t been officially announced yet, is rumored to take place at UFC 149, July 21st in Calgary.

The formerly rock-solid Fitch has seen victory elude him in his last two fights. Most recently he was on the wrong end of a 12-second knockout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 in December, which followed a disappointing draw against BJ Penn. As for Simpson, the former ASU wrestling star lost a split-decision to Ronny Markes in February — which snapped a three-fight winning streak — and is now looking to relaunch his career in a division where he might enjoy a size advantage over his opponents.

So what you do think: Is this a rebound fight for Fitch, or the best decision that Simpson could have made? And are you psyched to see this matchup?

(Sure, he may look strange to us, but that sort of thing is totally normal where he’s from.)

Somebody up there must like Yoshihiro Akiyama. Though the master judoka/crooner has been defeated in his last four outings — most recently dropping a decision to Jake Shields at UFC 144 — he’ll be getting another chance against Thiago Alves at UFC 149 (July 21st, Calgary). Bizarrely, UFC.com describes the welterweight bout as “a matchup between ground specialists who love to stand and trade.” That’s certainly an apt description of Sexyama, but Alves is more of “a standup specialist who should really stop diving into guillotine chokes.”

Alves’s loss to Martin Kampmann last month dropped his record over the last three years to a disappointing 2-4, with his only wins coming against Papy Abedi and John Howard, so he needs this win almost as much as his opponent does. If Akiyama loses, he’ll become just the second fighter in UFC history (after Steve Cantwell) to suffer five consecutive losses within the promotion. Anybody think he has a chance of breaking his streak?

Check out the current lineup of UFC 149 after the jump…

(Full press conference video, via YouTube.com/UFC. Man, Nick Ring is like a *god* in that town.)

Today’s UFC press conference in Calgary resulted in a tidal wave of major announcements, highlighted by two title-fight bookings and confirmations of three Canadian events in 2012. Here’s what we’re looking at…

- The middleweight championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will take place at an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, not Sao Paulo as originally reported. [Ed. note: R.I.P., Chael.] The exact venue hasn’t been confirmed yet, and the event is expected to take place at UFC 147 on either June 16th or June 23rd. It will be the third time in 10 months that Rio will host a UFC event. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for this guy.

- For the third year in a row, the UFC will hold three events in Canada this year: UFC 149 in Calgary (7/21), UFC 152 in Toronto (9/22), and UFC 154 in Montreal (11/17). No matchups have been scheduled for the Toronto and Montreal shows, although welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre said he’d like to compete at UFC 154 if his knee-surgery recovery allows it.

(Contrary to what this painting implies, Minowa will not be taking on Gabe “Godzilla” Rudiger. Seems like a wasted opportunity to us.) 

India-based promotion Super Fight League is quickly making waves in the MMA landscape. Aside from being the first promotion to sign an exclusive broadcast deal with Youtube, they’ve managed to sign UFC veterans Todd Duffee and Trevor Prangley and held a mildly successful first event earlier this month. Sure, Bob Sapp was there, a sentiment we are getting sicker and sicker of typing, but just listen to SFL’s theme song and tell us that these gentlemen are not on the short path to success. Go ahead. We’ll be right here. Haaaaangin out.

But if you weren’t convinced by Super Fight League’s first event, then you will be more than happy to learn that they’ve decided to move on from the undisputed queen of freak show fights in Sapp to the undisputed king of freak show fights in Ikuhisa Minowa for their next event. Oh yes, one of the greatest fighters to never hold a major title will be taking on two time Bellator middleweight tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko at SFL 2, which goes down on April 7th from Chandigarh, India.

We last saw Minowaman in action at the “meh” ProElite 3 event, where he was outpointed by TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. True to form, Minowa rebounded from the loss by picking up a first round submission over a 1-6 fighter that I am not going to bother looking up again because I already closed the tab. The Super Hulk Champion could be in for a long night against Shlemenko, a 44-7 kickboxing expert who showcased an improved submission game in his Bellator 50 guillotine joke victory over Zelg Galesic. If this fight features anything less than ten spinning backfists and a dropkick we will eat our hats.

Also set for SFL 2…

(“How ’bout this, bro: If neither one of us are married in ten years, *we* get married.”)

According to a tweet sent out last night by Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy will return to the Octagon at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), where he’ll face Forrest Griffin for the third time. Ortiz and Griffin’s first two fights both ended in split-decisions, with Ortiz winning their first meeting at UFC 59 in 2006, and Griffin taking the rematch at UFC 106 in 2009.

Ortiz has suffered through a 1-5 record over the last four years, with his only win coming via freakish first-round guillotine choke of Ryan Bader last July. Since then, he’s been TKO’d in back-to-back outings against Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Griffin’s last fight was a rematch with Mauricio Rua at UFC 134 in Rio, in which FoGriff got KO’d in under two minutes. By some accounts, his head just wasn’t in it.

(Jeez…relax, Tim. It’s not like you rolled a ball into some pins or anything.)

Following his monumental comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 — you know, the one that made Joe Rogan soak his seat? — Tim Boetsch respectfully called out Michael Bisping, telling MMA Junkie Radio: “I had wanted to fight [Bisping] even when we were both back at light heavyweight. I’ve had an eye on him…For some reason, I think Bisping rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That’s not the reason I want to fight him, though. I want to fight him because he’s ranked higher than me. I think I can take that from him…I like being the underdog. I like going into somebody else’s house and knowing everybody wants the other guy to win…That fires me up and gets me excited.”

At the time, we let this little tidbit pass us by without mention because come on, Bisping vs. Boetsch? It’s exactly the kind of fight that the Count would turn up his well-bred nose at. But according to the UFC, it’s actually happening. The fight is slated to be on the main card of UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), which already features Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, and a cruel bantamweight mismatch between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.

(Velasquez’s tattoos include an ’88′ on his back that’s brown-nationalist code for “Heil Homies”.)

In terms of sheer mass, UFC 146 (May 26th, Las Vegas) is shaping up to be the biggest card of the year. Already headlined by the heavyweight title fight between Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, and also featuring Big Country vs. Bigfoot and Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Del Rosario, another pivotal large-man matchup has now been added to the event.

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the rumored bout between former champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir has been verbally agreed to for UFC 146, and will officially be a #1 contender’s match in the heavyweight division. In other words, the winner of JDS vs. Overeem will know his next opponent that same night.

(In Brazil, it’s customary to destroy your own cornermen with flying knees after an impressive victory.)

With a flawless 10-0 record, three Fight of the Night awards, and a legendary spinning wheel-kick knockout of Terry Etim in his last performance, Brazilian lightweight Edson Barboza is arguably the greatest undefeated prospect on the UFC’s roster. And he’ll be going for his fifth win in the Octagon on May 26th, when he faces Evan Dunham at UFC 146 in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White confirmed the pairing yesterday via Twitter.

Dunham, who was a much-hyped undefeated prospect himself at one time, is back on the upswing after compiling back-to-back victories against Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Dunham’s biggest advantage against Barboza should be on the mat, but if he can’t get the fight there, he’ll be in for a long, painful night, full of feet flying at his face and shins slamming into his thighs. Anybody think Evan can derail the Edson Barboza hype-train?

Related: Mayhem to Be Given Another Shot Against C.B. Dollaway at UFC 146

(Nate Diaz poses with future UFC bantamweight champ Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.)

The UFC confirmed this morning that their third FOX show will take place May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Though it hasn’t been officially marked as the headliner, a high-profile lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller will be featured on the main card.

Diaz is coming off a three-round domination of Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 — arguably the greatest performance of his career — making it two wins in a row for Diaz since he returned to lightweight last fall. Meanwhile, New Jersey native Jim Miller bounced back to the win column last Friday with a first-round submission of Melvin Guillard, proving that he still belongs among the division’s elite. Though the fight probably isn’t a #1 contender’s match, it’ll certainly bump the winner very close to a title shot. Fun fact: In 27 combined UFC fights, neither man has ever been stopped.

(Unlicensed plastic surgery: It rarely works out the way you want it to.)

As we mentioned yesterday, Strikeforce is clinging on to life despite the fact that their biggest stars have either been poached or are on hiatus from fighting, and their championship belts now have less legitimacy than that chick’s doo-doo back tattoo. So how sketchy have things gotten over there? This sketchy:

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is slated to defend his belt against former UFC veteran Keith Jardine on Jan. 7, MMA Fighting has confirmed with sources close to the fight. The title fight is expected to headline the organization’s first event at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino…Rockhold was expected to meet Tim Kennedy in his first title defense, but according to sources, Kennedy couldn’t commit to the fight due to an undisclosed injury.

(By the end of his war with Kampmann, Diego Sanchez had suffered a split lip, two slashed-up eyes, and a complete loss of body hair.)

According to reports on MMAJunkie and Heavy, the UFC will be holding an event in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 15th, headlined by a promising welterweight contest between Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger. It will be the UFC’s first broadcast on the cable channel FUEL TV as part of the promotion’s new television deal with FOX Networks.

Sanchez has scored decision wins in his last two fights against Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann, both of which earned him Fight of the Night awards. Though his matchup with Ellenberger was originally rumored to take place at UFC 141 on December 30th, Sanchez needed a little more time to recover from a broken hand, which he sustained shortly before his scheduled UFC 135 meeting with Matt Hughes.

(Gomi Head approves of this matchup. Props: Dallas Winston.)

Takanori Gomi‘s run in the UFC has resulted in an underwhelming 1-3 record, marked by submission losses to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UFC is giving the Fireball Kid one more try in front of his home country’s fans — or at least the ones who will be dragging ass to the Saitama Super Arena early enough to catch the prelims.

The UFC has confirmed that Gomi will return at UFC 144 on February 26th, against Aussie grappling specialist George Sotiropoulos, who’s also had a rough go of it lately. After going 7-0 in the Octagon following his stint on TUF 6, Sotiropoulos is now riding back-to-back losses against Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. In other words, jobs could be on the line here.

Gomi vs. GSots brings the UFC 144 card up to 12 star-studded fights, including the lightweight title headliner between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, and bouts featuring Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, and Yushin Okami. Check out the current lineup after the jump, before injuries blow it all to hell.

(Avenge us, Kendall. AVENGE US.)

Remember yesterday when we found that amazing drawing of Ikuhisa Minowa fighting Godzilla, and used it as an excuse to run a relatively pointless post confirming that Minowaman would not, in fact, be fighting Brian Stann at UFC 144? Man, the crazy antics we get up to when nobody’s watching.

The thing is, we actually have some legit news to pass along about DREAM’s reigning Super Hluk [sic] champion. MMAFighting is reporting that Minowa will make his U.S. MMA debut at ProElite 3 (January 21st, Honolulu) where he’ll face rangy UFC veteran Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove. Okay, so it’s not the kind of freak-show matchup we’re used to seeing from Minowaman — but at least Grove is really tall for a middleweight.

(I guess it’s true what they say; life imitates art.) 

It has recently been reported that a welterweight contest between Paulo Thiago and Mike Pyle has been added to the rapidly awesoming UFC 142 card, which goes down January 14th in Rio. Thiago, a Brazilian superhero of sorts, last competed in the UFC’s return to Brazil at UFC 134, notching a unanimous decision victory over David Mitchell. It was Thiago’s first win in his past three contests, so a win over Pyle is likely necessary if he wants to keep his job that doesn’t involve Brazilian gangs, which, according to this one documentary I saw, are fucking terrifying. Pyle, on the other hand, just saw a three fight win streak (one that included an upset win over British prospect John Hathaway) snapped at the hands of Canadian wrecking machine Rory MacDonald.