(In case you’ve completely forgotten what he looks like, this is Jake Ellenberger.)

Immediately after Jake Shields notched an ugly decision win over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, welterweight vet Jake Ellenberger logged onto Twitter and started posting short-message bombs directed at the former Strikeforce champ. Highlights included, "Jake Shields, you’re as exciting as watching a bowl of mash potatoes get cold…Your days are numbered" and "Jake Shields’ cardio won’t be a factor if he fights me next. I won’t keep him around long enough to get tired."

(As cheap as it is for Ellenberger to talk smack over Twitter — without even including ‘@jakeshieldsajj‘ in his posts so that Jake will actually see them — we have to commend him for being the first MMA fighter in Twitter history to understand the difference between "you’re" and "your." Okay, nerdy grammar rant over.)

Since Ellenberger is just 2-1 in the UFC with wins over fellow mid-packers Mike Pyle and John Howard, we didn’t think for a second that he’d get Jake Shields pulled from his impending title fight just on the strength of his eDisses. And he didn’t. Instead, Ellenberger got a fight against Jon Fitch.

(What Leonard lacks in striking technique and conditioning, he more than makes up for with his unshakable sense of humor.)

Despite coming off a disappointing performance at WEC 51 in which he was outstruck to a split decision loss against Mark Hominick, former featherweight title contender Leonard Garcia will be one of the first 145-pounders to debut in the Octagon, when he meets Tyler Toner at the TUF 12 Finale (December 4, Las Vegas). The match will be Garcia’s first in the UFC since his 1-2 stint as a lightweight in 2007. Garcia is 1-2-1 in his last four fights in the WEC, with his only victory coming in a very questionable decision against Chan Sung Jung. Tyler Toner most recently dropped a decision against Diego Nunes at WEC 51. The TUF 12 finale takes place four weeks before the "official" debut of WEC talent at UFC 125, and 12 days before the WEC’s last event.

Speaking of the TUF 12 Finale, our guest-blogging friend Rich Attonito will reportedly take on Renzo Gracie product Dave Branch in a middleweight contest on the card. After being forced out of the competition on TUF 11 due to a broken hand, Attonito came back to shut Jamie Yager’s big mouth at the TUF 11 finale, then outscored Rafael Natal at UFC Fight Night 22. Branch was the victim of a Gerald Harris body-slam KO in his Octagon debut at UFC 116, but rallied back to win a decision over Tomasz Drwal, also at UFC Fight Night 22.

In other booking news…

(Guillard prepares for battle at UFC 109. Believe it or not, there’s a shriveled-up old white man under that mask. Photo courtesy of URDirt.com)

Coming off a split-decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119 last month — his third straight victory in the Octagon — UFC lightweight contender Melvin Guillard already has his next fight booked. As the Young Assassin tweeted last night: "Ok world an @Young__assassin fans the next fight is set for JAN 22,2011. FORT HOOD ,FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS."

Though he didn’t name an opponent, MMA Junkie claims that Guillard will be meeting well-traveled veteran Yves Edwards, who won a decision over John Gunderson last month in his UFC return fight, following a four-year absence from the organization. Junkie also pegs Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves to the event.

If Guillard’s announcement turns out to be accurate, the January 22nd show at Fort Hood will be the UFC’s second "Fight for the Troops" event, following their December 2008 visit to Fort Bragg, which left Corey Hill with a broken leg, Razak Al Hassan with a broken arm, and Brandon Wolff with a cartoonishly lumped-up head. Talk about setting the bar high…

(This is allegedly a picture of a pre-MMA Mac Danzig. Shame on Roy Nelson for biting his style.)

As first reported by MMA Mania, a lightweight meeting between Ultimate Fighter winners Mac Danzig and Joe Stevenson is likely for UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II (December 11; Montreal, Quebec, Canada).

After cruising through the sixth season of TUF as a welterweight, Danzig immediately dropped to lightweight and took out Mark Bocek at UFC 83. Since then, he’s gone 1-4 in the Octagon, most recently losing to Matt Wiman by a controversial technical decision. Danzig was scheduled to have a rematch with Wiman at UFC Fight Night 22, but had to withdraw due to injury. 

As for Joe Daddy, the TUF 2 welterweight winner could also use a ‘W’, as he’s coming off his unanimous decision loss to George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110. Stevenson was slated to take on Takanori Gomi at Jones vs. Matyushenko, but dropped out due to an injury of his own and was replaced by Tyson Griffin. Time for one TUF winner to get his shit together, and another to board the slow boat to palookaville…

(Image courtesy of ItalianSweatshop.com. If you decide to click that link, be advised that the "music off" button is in the upper-left corner.) 

After dropping his UFC return fight to Amir Sadollah at UFC 106, Phil Baroni (13-12, 3-6 UFC) was slated to come back as a middleweight against John Salter at UFC 118 — but a training injury changed his plans. According to MMA Junkie, Baroni has been re-scheduled to appear at UFC 125 on January 1st against TUF 11 semifinalist Brad Tavares (5-0, 1-0 UFC).

Tavares, who was eliminated on the show by eventual winner Court McGee, returned at the TUF 11 finale and scored a decision win against Seth Baczynski. Now he has a chance to make his name off a struggling veteran, while Baroni can keep his career alive by whipping the 22-year-old Hawaiian. The New York Bad Ass hasn’t tasted victory since outpointing Olaf Alfonso at a Palace Fighting Championship event in September 2008, and it’s a pretty safe bet that if Baroni loses to a barely-established upstart like Tavares, it’ll be the end of his current stint with the UFC. Can Baroni stage another career comeback, or will he catch one of these?

(Over/under on how many times Joe Rogan will use the word "warrior" during the fight: 27. Photos courtesy of MMAWeekly)

During an appearance on ESPN 1000′s "MMA Tonight" on Sunday, UFC lightweight contender Clay Guida confirmed that he’ll be facing Japanese legend Takanori Gomi at UFC 125 (January 1st, Las Vegas). Guida originally hinted at the matchup last month, when he tweeted that his next fight would be "a big one" against a guy with "ALOT of power in his hands." As the Carpenter told the hosts of MMA Tonight, "[Gomi was] One of my favorite fighters growing up watching MMA…I look up to him, and I’m going to look forward to picking him up off the ground after I ground and pound him into the canvas."

Guida has gone 2-0 this year, scoring submission victories against Shannon Gugerty and Rafael Dos Anjos. Though Gomi was choked out by Kenny Florian in his UFC debut in March, he roared back to relevance with a thunderous knockout of Tyson Griffin at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko.

The current list of matchups that have been reported for UFC 125 is after the jump…

(Photoprops: J-Dog)

On last night’s episode of ESPN’s "MMA Live", co-host Kenny Florian revealed that his next fight is close to finalized. As the two-time lightweight title contender said, "We’ve verbally agreed to fight Evan Dunham, which is great news. Phenomenal opponent, which I’m very excited about, and it looks like it may happen on Super Bowl weekend." 

Ken-Flo is coming off of his unanimous decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118, while Dunham — previously #7 on our increasingly-buckshot list of the 10 greatest undefeated fighters in MMA — recently left it in the hands of the judges at UFC 119, losing a decision to Sean Sherk that Dana White publicly called a robbery. As we wrote then, "it will be interesting to see if the UFC simply ignores the amazing incompetence of the ringside officials on Saturday night and keeps the kid full-speed-ahead on his rise to a title shot." Even though Florian is coming off his own loss, the matchup definitely feels like a well-deserved step up the ladder for Dunham.

It’s also another potentially sick addition to UFC 127 (February 5th, Las Vegas), an event that may feature Silva vs. Belfort, Jones vs. Bader, and Griffin vs. Franklin. Now that we think about it, a Florian vs. Sherk rematch would have made just as much sense here. Your thoughts?

(Diaz pops Marcus Davis in the jaw at UFC 118; meanwhile, Yves Lavigne notices the rancid smell coming from his armpits. / Props: CageWriter.com)

As first broken by Korean news site mfight.co.kr, Nate Diaz (13-5) will reportedly make his Octagon return against Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim (13-0-1, 1 no contest), at UFC 125: Edgar vs. Maynard on New Year’s Day. Diaz most recently picked up his second victory at welterweight, beating the piss out of Marcus Davis at UFC 118 before choking him to sleep in the third round.

Kim’s last cage-appearance was a unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah at UFC 114, in a performance that was marked by Kim’s superior wrestling and positional control. No, it wasn’t the most exciting fight, but it got the job done and preserved DHK’s unblemished record. Kim was scheduled to return against John Hathaway at UFC 120, but was forced to drop out of the fight due to injury. (Injury withdrawals are kind of a bad habit for Kim, who also missed scheduled UFC meetings with Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle.)

Diaz is on his way to becoming a real contender in the welterweight division — but as we saw in his lightweight losses to Gray Maynard, Joe Stevenson, and Clay Guida, he’s vulnerable against strong wrestlers. If Kim can blanket him like he did to Sadollah, it could be a sad night in Stockton.

(GNC vs. KFC)

Earlier today, Shane Carwin tweeted that he expects to return to the Octagon at UFC 125 (January 1st, Las Vegas), but doesn’t have an opponent yet. He also promised that "If I knock my opponent out on 1-1-11 in the 1st round at the 1:11 mark I will give the gloves to a follower on Twitter." In other words, Shane will probably be hanging on to those gloves.

So who is this mystery opponent? The answer might be the most obvious one. Sources have informed MMAFighting.com that the UFC is trying to book Carwin against TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson, though the matchup could be delayed depending on Nelson’s knee surgery recovery. Carwin and Nelson had a brief Twitter feud in August regarding steroids and obesity, so they already seem to dislike each other. Plus, both guys are coming off of nasty losses, so the fight also has a nice redemption angle. Makes sense to us, especially since UFC 125 needs a prominent co-headliner. We expect Carwin to be the odds-on favorite in this one. Who’s picking Big Country for the upset?

(Stephan Bonnar: He will stand there all day like that.)

The finale show for The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck — slated for December 4th at the Palms in Las Vegas — just picked up its first two official matchups. According to a press release sent out by Spike this morning, the event will feature a middleweight contest between former title contender Demian Maia and TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. Maia most recently outpointed Mario Miranda at UFC 118 in Boston, while Grove is coming off a split-decision win over Goran Reljic at UFC 116.

Also on the card, Stephan Bonnar will try to follow up his TKO victory/Fight of the Night against Krzysztof Soszynski (also at UFC 116) when he meets Igor Pokrajac, the man responsible for choking James Irvin out of the UFC. With his 1-2 Octagon record, Pokrajac isn’t exactly a step up in competition for Bonnar after the K-Sos fight. But it’s a fight that Bonnar can win, and if you don’t like seeing Bonnar win fights, we have one question for you: Why do you hate America so much?

Related: According to an MMAJunkie report, the TUF 12 Finale will also host a welterweight battle between Johny Hendricks (9-0, 4-0 UFC) and Rick Story (11-3, 4-1 UFC).

(Man, that is some crazy, high-level, top-of-the-food-chain…uh, what exactly am I looking at here? Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

As first reported by MMAFighting, UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will attempt to make his second belt defense against Gray Maynard at UFC 125, which is slated to go down New Year’s Day 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Both fighters are coming off big decision wins at UFC 118, with Edgar shutting down BJ Penn in a rematch of their first title bout, and Maynard outpointing Kenny Florian. Edgar and Maynard previously met at UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008, with Maynard scoring a unanimous decision victory and handing Edgar his only career loss to date. Both fighters are tied on the UFC decision-fight leaderboard.

As Chael Sonnen so eloquently put it, "From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard versus Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as holding onto Jim Morrison’s mail." Which is why the potential loss of Silva vs. Belfort on the card is such a bummer. Plus, Chris Leben is penciled in to fight Brian Stann at the event, not Wanderlei Silva, as we (and Silva himself) had hoped. UFC 125 could really use a solid co-headliner, especially considering it’s a New Year’s card. Any bright ideas?

(None shall pass. / Props: geraldhurricaneharris.com)

Since returning to the UFC following his TUF 7 stint in 2008, UFC middleweight standout Gerald Harris has gone 3-0, with all fights ending in KO/TKO, and all fights taking place against New Guys. In what has to be some sort of freakin’ record, Harris will welcome another UFC first-timer to the Octagon at UFC 123 (November 20, Auburn Hills). As first reported by Tatame and confirmed today by UFC.com, Harris is slated to face Maiquel Jose "Big Rig" Falcao Goncalves, a 25-3 Chute Boxe product with 21 wins by KO/TKO, whose last seven fights resulted in first-round stoppage victories. That’s a scary resume, to be sure. Still, let’s recap the devastation that Gerald Harris has inflicted on folks who tried to make a good first impression in the UFC:

According to a Sherdog report published yesterday, UFC lightweight contenders George Sotiropoulos (13-2, 6-0 UFC) and Joe Lauzon (19-5, 6-2 UFC) will meet in a pivotal matchup at UFC 123 (November 20th, Auburn Hills). Riding a six-fight win streak including decision victories this year over Kurt Pellegrino and Joe Stevenson, Sotiropoulos would move very close to title contention with an impressive win over Lauzon. The fight would come less than three months after Lauzon’s recent destruction of Gabe Ruediger at UFC 118, which helped him rebound from a lopsided decision loss against Sam Stout at UFC 108.

The Sotiropoulos/Lauzon matchup contradicts an optimistic report in the Sydney Morning Herald that had George taking on BJ Penn or Kenny Florian in his next outing. Though the UFC could have been considering a matchup with Florian, Ken-Flo plans on sharpening his wreslting until the spring.

Related: Tyson Griffin vs. Nik Lentz is also being targeted for UFC 123, and Clay Guida has his next opponent set; he isn’t naming names, but it’s a "big one" against a guy with "ALOT of power in his hands."

("Time it was and what a time it was…")

Contradicting earlier reports that had Tito Ortiz facing Forrest Griffin in a meaningless rubber match, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Ortiz will instead face off against Matt Hamill at UFC 121 (October 23rd; Anaheim, CA). The Huntington Beach Blah Blah hasn’t competed since his split decision loss to Griffin at UFC 106, and hasn’t won a fight since his third TKO victory over Ken Shamrock in October 2006. Hamill is coming off his majority decision over Keith Jardine at the TUF 11 Finale, which got the Dean of Mean bounced out of the UFC. Technically, Hamill has won his last four fights, including the Jon Jones DQ. If you’ll recall, Hamill was a member of Team Punishment on TUF 3, so this fight will have extra significance when Hamill beats Tito’s ass. In other UFC 121 booking news…

(Yang vs. Nastula @ Sengoku 4, 8/24/08)

By CagePotato contributor Dallas Winston

CagePotato.com has learned that new UFC signee Dongi Yang, a.k.a. “The Ox”, will face Chris Camozzi at UFC 121 on October 23rd in Anaheim, CA. [Ed. note: "Dongi" is not a typo. Despite being previously listed as Dong Yi Yang, we're told that Dongi is the correct spelling of his name.]

Thus far, Yang has been a complete wrecking machine overseas, with an aggressive style eerily reminiscent of his Korean Top Team training partner Chan Sung Jung. He’s finished all nine of the fights on his flawless record by way of the crushing power in his heavy hands save for one submission (a triangle choke in his pro debut against Hyung Kyo Lee) and one TKO-via-exhaustion over former PRIDE fighter and standout judoka Pawel Nastula.

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.

(They don’t like smiling. Put that in your little notebook.)

Dana White confirmed with MMAFighting.com over the weekend that Brock Lesnar‘s expected title defense against Cain Velasquez will come at UFC 121, slated for October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The meeting will come nearly four months after Lesnar’s comeback submission win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, and eight months after Velasquez stormed through Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110.

Though betting odds for the fight opened with Lesnar as a minor favorite (-125 to Cain’s -105), Lesnar has already moved as high as -160, due to money flooding in on the champ. At this point, the only other matchup reported for UFC 121 is a lightweight scrap between Sam Stout and Paul Taylor. In other booking news…

(We’re a little freaked-out too, Mike.)

UFC 120 (October 16th, London) is one of those international events that will be shown for free on Spike, so we didn’t really expect a massive headliner, but still, this is a bit of a slap in the nuts. Fighters Only reports that the card’s main event will be a middleweight contest between soap-opera star Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Yes, that Yoshihiro Akiyama, the one who was submitted by Chris Leben last weekend. Akiyama deserves a headlining spot about as much as Mark Hunt deserves a UFC contract after going winless for four years.* Of course, the prospect of Bisping beating up a foreign fancy-boy will probably be enough to get the locals to come out. We’re just glad we don’t have to pay for this one. The rumored UFC 120 lineup currently looks like this…

Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit
Cheick Kongo vs. Travis Browne
John Hathaway vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Spencer Fisher vs. Kurt Warburton
Rob Broughton vs. Vinicius Quieroz
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Cyrille Diabaté
James Te-Huna vs. Tom Blackledge

* Turns out, the UFC contractually owes Mark Hunt fights due to their 2007 purchase of PRIDE.

(Always be specific when you order "Brazilian twins" from the local escort service. You could get badly burned. Trust me guys, *badly* burned…)

Sherk vs. Dunham? Who cares! Lots more UFC 119-related news just came over the wires, and it looks like the people of Indianapolis are going to be in for a wild night, even if the main event is somewhat lacking in importance. Here’s what we’re dealing with…

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir: This will reportedly be the evening’s headliner. Hmm. If you’ll recall, the two former champions coached against each other on TUF 8, then Mir shocked our asses by TKO’ing Nogueira at UFC 92. Nogueira blamed his weak performance on a staph infection, so maybe this fight will turn out differently, but basically we’re being given another UFC main event where both guys are coming off losses, and the winner doesn’t even become the division’s #1 contender. Personally, I was more interested in a Big Nog vs. Cro Cop rematch. 

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader: Now we’re talking. Lil’ Nog needs to redeem himself after nearly getting beat by late replacement Jason Brilz at UFC 114, while Ryan Bader is looking sharper every time out, most recently knocking out Keith Jardine at UFC 110. If Bader can out-hustle the Brazilian vet, he’ll land directly in the light-heavyweight title mix.

(Dunham and Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20. Tickets to the gun show are free, but nobody leaves without paying. Photo courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Returning from a decision loss to Frank Edgar at UFC 98 and a year of injuries, Sean Sherk will attempt to return to the Octagon (fingers crossed) at UFC 119 (September 25th, Indianapolis), where he’ll face undefeated rising star Evan Dunham. With a 4-0 record in the Octagon and big wins this year over Tyson Griffin and Efrain Escudero, Dunham may finally experience what it’s like to be a favorite against the former UFC lightweight champ. To be honest, Sherk isn’t much of a step up for Dunham, who soundly defeated Griffin last month, but it’s another solid opportunity for the 28-year-old Xtreme Couture product to build his name.

Sherk was supposed to return to action last October at UFC 104 against Gleison Tibau, but had to pull out due to a shoulder injury. He was rescheduled for a UFC 108 meeting against Jim Miller, but again withdrew after suffering a cut over his eye in training. In March, Sherk was slated to face Clay Guida at UFC on Versus 1. You can probably guess how that turned out.

Despite earlier reports, Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are not slated to meet at UFC 119. A headliner for the event is yet to be determined, though a Quinton Jackson/Antonio Rogerio Nogueira match is still possible for the main card. Other reported fights include CB Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen, Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens, and Chris Lytle vs. TBA. 

(Y’know, if you two got to know each other, you’d realize you aren’t so different after all.)

As first reported by MMA Weekly, Dan Hardy will return to the Octagon at UFC 120, tentatively slated for October 16th at the O2 Arena in London. After getting slept on for five rounds in his unsuccessful welterweight title grab against Georges St. Pierre in March, Hardy will look to rebound against Carlos Condit, who’s coming off a dramatic third-round TKO over Rory MacDonald at UFC 115; the stoppage came with seven seconds left in the final frame, and Condit would have likely lost the fight on points. No other fights have been reported for UFC 120, although the event is rumored to host the UFC’s first U.K. Fan Expo.

In other booking news, Tyson Griffin has stepped up to face Takanori Gomi at UFC on Versus 2 (August 1st, San Diego), replacing Joe Stevenson who suffered a knee injury in training. Griffin was most recently outworked by Evan Dunham at UFC 115, losing by split-decision. Gomi might be facing a must-win situation against Griffin, as he was choked out by Kenny Florian in his Octagon debut in March.

(Marcus awoke in a strange room with red carpet and red furniture, naked women on the walls. Was he still dreaming? Just then, a midget entered and began to dance. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

We may have supported the idea of a Boston vs. New York rivalry-match between Marcus Davis and Phil Baroni at UFC 118, but this could work out even better. According to multiple sources, Davis has verbally agreed to take on Nate Diaz at the August 28th event in Boston. The Irish Hand Grenade saved his job last weekend at UFC 113 with his second-round TKO of Jonathan Goulet (who has been fired again, by the way). Meanwhile, Diaz is coming off his whipping of Rory Markham in his welterweight debut at UFC 111, which followed a 1-3 stretch at lightweight. There might be one hitch in the plan, however — Diaz’s involvement in last month’s brawl at Strikeforce: Nashville. As MMA Junkie writes: 

Six people who participated in the CBS-televised brawl await possible suspension and/or fines from the Tennessee Athletic Commission, though their names have yet to be officially released. A commission meeting scheduled for Thursday in Nashville was delayed by massive flooding that’s submerged much of the city’s downtown area. The meeting tentatively has been rescheduled for May 27. If Diaz is held responsible for his part in the brawl, the TAC could fine him up to $250,000, though he could appeal the fine and delay its enactment.

UFC 118 will be headlined by Penn vs. Edgar II, and will very likely feature James Toney’s UFC debut against Randy Couture; Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard is also expected for the card.

(Dos Santos knocked out Stefan Struve in 54 seconds. Nelson knocked out Struve in 39 seconds. It’ll be a stretch, but we’re confident that the UFC can somehow twist that into a "grudge match" angle.)

According to a report published this morning on MMA Junkie, a heavyweight tilt between Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson is being targeted for UFC 117 (August 7th, Oakland). Nelson was previously slated to fight Cheick Kongo at UFC 116 in July, but Kongo won’t be able to make that date because of a back injury, and since Dos Santos had been stuck in a holding pattern without an opponent, it seems that the UFC will have Cigano and Big Country square off against each other. Dos Santos has already stated that he’d be down to fight the TUF 10 winner, and Nelson would also welcome the matchup:

"That might be a fight that might happen. I’m hoping, all you can do is hope…If you think about who’s out there fighting for the belt, or getting ready to fight for the belt it would be Brock (Lesnar) of course and Shane (Carwin), and then right underneath them it’s Dos Santos and Velasquez. So those are the four guys I’m looking for that can kind of catapult me right into belt contention."

(Well, he certainly has his mother‘s cheekbones. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Adding to the long list of horrible stuff that has happened to him in his career, James Irvin‘s last fight at UFC of Versus: Vera vs. Jones was an utter disaster. The Sandman looked painfully emaciated in his first attempt at middleweight, and crumpled to the mat after taking an eye-punch from Alessio Sakara. It was the fourth time in his last five appearances that Irvin has ended a fight on the mat writhing in pain or otherwise immobilized. (See also: Anderson Silva slicing him up, his blown out ACL/MCL against Thiago Silva, and the DQ victory via illegal knee he endured against Luis Cane.) Truly, the Octagon has become a dangerous place for James Irvin. Unfortunately, quitting doesn’t seem to be an option.

Despite the fact that he hasn’t won a fight in over two years, MMA Weekly is reporting that Irvin will get one last shot to redeem himself at UFC on Versus 2 (August 1st, Salt Lake City). Irvin will be heading back up to 205 — thank God — to face Igor Pokrajac, the Cro Cop disciple who has gone 0-2 in the Octagon, dropping fights to Vladimir Matyushenko and James "Hey, Tuna" Te-Huna. Obviously, it’s a must-win for both guys, though if Irvin can make it through the fight without any serious injuries, you have to consider that a victory in itself.

Related: UFC on Versus 2 will also host a middleweight contest between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz. Rebounding from his UFC 104 loss to Chael Sonnen, Okami turned in one of the most impressive performances of his career when he beat down Lucio Linhares at "Florian vs. Gomi" in March. Munoz is a perfect 3-0 at middleweight, and most recently scored a TKO over Kendall Grove in UFC 112′s Fight of the Night.

("The creepy guy behind the ring? Don’t worry Rachelle, that’s just James McSweeney. He’ll probably ask you for a lock of your hair before you leave, but he’s cool." / Photo courtesy of twitter.com/nathanmarquardt)

– Though Nate Marquardt and Alessio Sakara were slated to meet at UFC 116 in July, Sakara has postponed his Octagon return due to the recent death of his father. So, the UFC did some re-shuffling and came up with the following: Sakara will now compete at UFC 118 (August 28th, Boston) against Jorge Rivera, who picked up his third-straight win in March when he wrecked Nate Quarry. As for Marquardt, he will also likely return in August (either UFC 118 or UFC 117), against Rousimar Palhares, who you may know as the asshole who holds his submissions for too long.

– Speaking of the UFC’s Boston show, hometown kid Joe Lauzon will try to rebound from his lopsided decision loss against Sam Stout when he meets up with British contender Terry Etim. Etim had a four-fight UFC win-streak snapped last month in Abu Dhabi when he fell to an armbar submission against Rafael Dos Anjos.

(Karlos Vemola HL reel, with narration by Cookie Monster. Props: gangstervideoscouk via Fightlinker)

With his hulking appearance and string of first-round stoppage victories, Karlos "The Terminator" Vemola is already drawing hype as a Euro version of Shane Carwin. The Czech Republic-bred London Shootfighters product has gone 7-0 in his MMA career so far — primarily in England’s Cage Fighters Championship league — with five of those wins being decided in the first minute of the fight; his longest match lasted 3:14, and his shortest ended in just five seconds. And so, the UFC is giving Vemola a shot, slating him against TUF 10 wrestling specialist Jon Madsen (5-0), who most recently out-pointed Mostapha Al Turk on the preliminary card of UFC 112. Vemola vs. Madsen is slated to go down at UFC 116, July 3rd in Las Vegas.

Besides his intimidating build, Vemola has a couple of good story-lines coming into the match. He’s a training partner of Al Turk, so there’s the trusty revenge angle. He also has personal history with another TUF 10 vet, James McSweeney, who previously accused Vemola of using steroids; Vemola and McSweeney were supposed to fight for CFC’s heavyweight title at one point, but McSweeney withdrew from the match to move to the United States. If Vemola can smash Madsen, maybe he and McSweeney will have their date after all.

("He was like this when I found him.")

Look, I like Vladimir Matyushenko. I like that he’s 39 years old and still has enough spunk to whoop on much-younger dudes like Eliot Marshall and Igor Pokrajac. But when I see this report on TheGarv.com saying that he and Jon Jones have verbally agreed to face each other at UFC on Versus 2 (August 1st, Salt Lake City), I have to question his management and the UFC’s matchmaking. Not that the Janitor would ever duck a fight, but holy crap is this going to be an annihilation. Matyushenko’s strength is his wrestling; so was Matt Hamill’s, and Hamill got ragdolled and torn to shreds. And on the feet? Forget about it. There’s no way that Vlad will be quick enough to avoid the unpredictable attacks that Jones might throw at him. I hate to count guys out, but I just don’t see one scenario in which Matyushenko manages to shock the world. Can’t wait to see the betting line on this one.

It’s unfortunate that Jones wouldn’t be getting a solid step up in competition after destroying Brandon Vera last month, but I think the UFC’s motivations are clear here: Jones is already in line for a title shot, but he has to keep winning until the Machida/Shogun/Rampage/Evans contender logjam sorts itself out. Why risk giving Jones a loss in the meantime? It’s a cynical interpretation of the matchup, but no other explanation makes sense…

(Roy vs. Fedor, rib-eating contest, no wet-naps allowed. MAKE IT HAPPEN, DANA.)

— Spike TV has confirmed that the previously reported matchup between Matt Hamill and Keith Jardine will headline the TUF 11 finale (June 19th, Las Vegas). Hamill is coming off his DQ "victory" over Jon Jones via 12-to-6 elbow annihilation, while Jardine has eaten three straight losses against Quinton Jackson, Thiago Silva, and Ryan Bader; you’d have to assume that this is his last chance to score a victory if he wants to keep his gig with the UFC. Not sure if the match deserves a headlining spot, but we’re interested to see what happens.

— According to a recent Twitter post, Roy Nelson will likely be taking on Cheick Kongo in his next match, which early reports are pegging to UFC 116 (July 3rd, Las Vegas). Nelson most recently scored a 39-second knockout of Stefen Struve at "Florian vs. Gomi," while Cheick Kongo snapped a two-fight losing streak by beating down Paul Buentello at "Vera vs. Jones." Which means that Junior Dos Santos is now completely out of opponents.

— Speaking of UFC 116, Sportsnet‘s Showdown Joe Ferraro first passed along rumors that the stacked event will also host bouts between Nate Marquardt and Alessio Sakara, and Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer. MMA Junkie has since confirmed those reports. UFC 116′s current lineup is after the jump; kill whoever you have to in order to get tickets.

(Big Dog is planning to eat Matt Hughes’ country breakfast August 7.)

According to an MMA Weekly report, a bout between former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie disciple, Ricardo Almeida is in the works for UFC 117, August 7 in Oakland, CA.

Almeida will be looking bring a “W” and honor back to the Gracie academy while seeking revenge for Renzo and his other UFC-employed black belt, Matt Serra – both of whom were defeated by Hughes in the past year. Serra shared “Fight of the Night” honors in a unanimous decision loss with Hughes at UFC 98, while the aging Gracie was crippled with leg kicks by the Hillsborough, IL native who eventually pulled the trigger on a TKO victory in the third and final frame of their fight at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, UAE earlier this month. Hughes also holds a win over Renzo’s cousin, UFC legend Royce Gracie.

(Either he’s suffering from jet-lag, or he stayed up all night watching a Bad Girls Club marathon. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

After getting soundly handled by Kenny Florian last month, Takanori Gomi will get another chance to prove himself in the UFC — but it won’t be easy. As first reported by MMA Mania, the Fireball Kid will compete at the next "UFC on Versus" show (August 1st, Salt Lake City) against UFC lightweight contender Joe Stevenson. Though Stevenson is coming off a decision loss to George Sotiropolous at UFC 110, he looked better than ever in his previous victories over Spencer Fisher and Nate Diaz, and has to be thought of as the favorite in this matchup. It’s an absolute must-win for Gomi, who would likely be released by the UFC if he loses. Anybody think he’s got a shot?

Semi-related: Randy Couture is slated to appear on the UFC’s August 28th card in Boston, which has fired speculation that he will be facing former boxing champ James Toney, who he previously called dibs on. You’d better hope this doesn’t actually come together, Randy — this guy’s daddy was an original death fighter, for God’s sake…