Spencer Fisher

(Photo courtesy of Newsday.)

— TUF 3 finalist Ed Herman, who broke a two-fight skid in April with a unanimous decision win over David Loiseau, has been tapped to replace James "Job" Irvin against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102, according to Sherdog. Irvin was forced to withdraw from the fight this week due to yet another serious knee injury. Herman was previously scheduled to face Aaron Simpson at UFC Fight Night 19 (September 16th, Oklahoma City).

— UFC 104 (October 24th, Los Angeles) will reportedly host a lightweight battle between Joe Stevenson and Spencer Fisher. "Joe Daddy" broke a two-fight losing streak of his own when he scored a decision win over Nate Diaz at the TUF 9 finale in June. Fisher is riding a three fight win-streak and most recently outpointed Caol Uno at UFC 99. The match will likely be on the main card, supporting the light-heavyweight title fight between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

(Caol Uno vs. BJ Penn at UFC 34. Okay, so they weren't all brilliant performances...)

After nearly six years away from the organization, one of the UFC's early lightweight stars will be making his long-awaited return this summer. MMA Junkie reports that Japanese grappler Caol Uno has re-signed with the UFC and will likely step back into the Octagon against Spencer Fisher at UFC 99 (June 13th; Cologne, Germany). 

After beginning his MMA career in Shooto, where he eventually won the league's 154-pound title, Uno entered the UFC in 2001 and immediately fought for the UFC's "bantamweight" (155-pound) title against Jens Pulver. He lost a decision to Lil' Evil, but after going 2-1 in his next three fights — including wins over Fabiano Iha and Yves Edwards, and the 11-second loss to BJ Penn shown above — Uno was invited to compete in a four-man UFC tournament to fill the lightweight title that Pulver had vacated. Uno defeated Din Thomas by decision in the tourney's first round at UFC 39, but ran into Penn once again at UFC 41 in February 2003. The two fought to a frustrating five-round split-draw, which led the UFC to disband the 155-pound division for three years.

Uno fought for K-1 during that time, scoring notable wins over Hideo Tokoro, Rich Clementi, and Kultar Gill in their Hero's promotion. Last year, Uno entered DREAM's lightweight grand prix, where he choked out Mitsuhiro Ishida in the quarterfinals before losing to Shinya Aoki by decision in the semis. In recent weeks, Uno was mentioned as one of the fighters that the UFC wanted to use to break into Japan. Said Dana White: "Caol Uno, I love him. He'll always be a part of the UFC. And yeah, we're talking to him, too." 

Uno's next opponent, Spencer Fisher, is 7-3 in the Octagon and has won his last two bouts against Jeremy Stephens and Shannon Gugerty; he also holds UFC wins over Thiago Alves, Matt Wiman, and Sam Stout. So, it won't exactly be an easy "welcome back" fight for the Japanese veteran.

Two videos of Uno actually winning fights are after the jump...

(Shannon Gugerty finishes fights. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

— Without an opponent due to Thiago Silva's recent back injury, Lyoto Machida has been officially removed from UFC 89's lineup; an undercard bout between Shane Carwin and Neil Wain will now be bumped up to the pay-per-view broadcast. As one rumor goes, Machida could potentially face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in November or December.

— Patrick Cote is tired of the American media disrespecting him by discussing who Anderson Silva should face after the Spider inevitably kicks the crap out of the Canadian challenger at UFC 90. You might not believe this, but Cote said he's "ready to shock the world." Wow...could we have been wrong about this fight all along?

— Melvin Guillard has been forced to drop out of his UFC 90 bout with Spencer Fisher for undisclosed reasons. Replacing him will be Shannon Gugerty (11-2), the City Boxing product who made his UFC debut at "Silva vs. Irvin" in July with a first-round choke-out of Dale Hartt.

— The UFC may have found its next light-heavyweight gatekeeper, reportedly signing Italian UWC/Cage Rage vet Ivan Serati (10-2) to a multi-fight deal; he's expected to make his first Octagon appearance before the end of the year. Serati has won his last four matches, and started his career with five straight victories by stoppage (all in under a minute) before losing to Vitor Belfort via TKO at a Cage Rage event in April '07.

— UFC.com just published a feature about Evan Tanner's greatest UFC moments. Read and reflect.

(Melvin Guillard shuts down Dennis Siver. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

MMA Weekly has confirmed that UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago) will feature a lightweight bout between Spencer Fisher and Melvin Guillard. Fisher (21-4, 6-3 UFC) is coming off a decision win against Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 7 finale in June, while Guillard (21-7-2, 4-3 UFC) is coming off a 36-second KO of Dennis Siver, which won him the "Knockout of the Night" bonus at last month's UFC 86. Seems like a decent matchup, though Fisher's coach Pat Miletich isn't so pleased: "Spencer has no reason to fight that guy," Miletich told MMA Weekly. "I don’t think Melvin’s earned the right to fight him yet. I think Spencer should be fighting somebody where he’s got something to gain."

Also in the lightweight division at UFC 90, Sherdog reports that Hermes Franca (who has dropped his last two fights to Sean Sherk and Frank Edgar) will be facing Gleison Tibau (who has dropped his last two fights to Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson). It goes without saying that the loser of this match could find himself bounced out of the UFC. Tibau currently trains at American Top Team, and Hermes Franca — a former ATT member — considers him a friend.

MMA Weekly also lists a third high-profile lightweight bout — between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin — on its UFC 90 Rumors page. The event will feature the middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote, as well as a potential #1 welterweight contender match between Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez.

In other UFC news...

— Wanderlei Silva will return to the Octagon in December against Unknown Fighter.

— Ever wonder why Luke Cummo looks so damn healthy and energetic? Partly the pee-drinking, mostly the pre-fight fasting.

— Brock Lesnar isn't ruling out a return to pro wrestling.

— Dana White allows you into his world.

(HMC: Sexual Napalm.)

Hey, how's your news?

— Hong Man Choi is scheduled to report for mandatory Korean army service next Monday, which may take him out of fight competition for three years. Apparently, his size prohibits him from being a regular soldier, so he'll be stuck writing parking tickets and working the Xerox machine at a district office. Or so they want you to think!

— A match between UFC lightweights Spencer Fisher (20-4, 5-3 UFC) and Jeremy Stephens (13-2, 2-1 UFC) has been booked for the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale (June 21st, Las Vegas). Fisher most recently dropped a decision to Frankie Edgar at UFC 78, while Stephens has won his lost two UFC bouts against Diego Saraiva and Cole Miller. This could be the fourth match on the TUF 7 finale card that doesn't include the show's castmembers, after the Diego Sanchez/Luigi Fioravanti headlining bout and rumored matches between Josh Burkman and Dustin Hazelett, and Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries. Could this be an early signal that many of the show's finalists didn't turn out to be worthy of getting a spot on the finale show?

— WEC bantamweight prospect Manny Tapia (10-0-1) injured his knee during training, and has been forced to pull out of his June 1st title bout against champion Miguel Torres (32-1). Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2) has reportedly agreed to fill in, and will challenge Torres for the belt. Maeda is a veteran of Pancrase and DEEP, and was Pacrase's first featherweight champion.

— Former UFC middleweight Terry Martin won his professional boxing debut on Saturday, taking out Ricardo Upchurch by TKO in just 40 seconds; with the loss, Upchurch's pro record drops to 0-2. Roy Jones Jr., you're next.