Jeremy Stephens and Josh Neer are just two fighters of note to win matches on small shows held in Iowa this weekend.

Stephens, fighting outside of his UFC contract, defeated Nick Walker on Saturday night at Midwest Cage Championships 9 in Urbandale, Iowa.

A day earlier in Iowa, former UFC fighter Josh Neer made his debut at 155 lbs. and was victorious against former UFC and Pride fighter Paul Rodriguez in Des Moines at GreenSparks Fighting Championship 5.

Neer won via TKO at 1:38 in the first round while Stephens also recorded a TKO at 4:45 of round one.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman is interested in a possible second tour of duty in the UFC.

In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, Coleman expresses his desire to continue fighting and to also do so for the UFC:

With an 4-4 record in his past eight bouts, including two losses to Fedor, Coleman hasn’t maintained the influence of the early days of his career, but he hasn’t hung up the gloves yet. In fact, he still has two fights left on his current Pride contract and with the buyout of that organization by Zuffa, it sounds as if Coleman sees a possible return to his old stomping grounds in the near future.

“I’ve always wanted to get back in that cage and I always knew I’d get back in there at least one more time. That’s were I got started. I like the cage and I like the UFC rules better anyways,” said Coleman, obviously in reference to the brutal forearms and elbows he was so famous for. “I can be more effective in the cage than I was in the ring.”

At 42, I just don’t see the UFC having much interest in Coleman. No one can deny his place in MMA history, but look at how the UFC dealt with Ken Shamrock’s request to make another comeback.

I know he still wants to fight, but Coleman would be a great fit as a coach for the IFL if they had interest in adding an Ohio franchise.

There’s also this little nugget of info that I found particularly funny:

Interestingly, Coleman is also the subject of a new movie that is readying for production. Entitled “The Smashing Machine,” the same as the movie about his friend Mark Kerr, it sounds as if Jean-Claude Van Damme could be portraying the former UFC and Pride champion… an “interesting” choice that Coleman even seems to find odd.

What’s next, Steven Seagal as Chuck Liddell?

In order to find out how you can access the entire Coleman interview on MMAWeekly.com, just click here.

Here are the quick results from Extreme Challenge 81 at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ. Notes at the bottom…

1. Wilson Reis made his pro MMA debut and defeated Baba Shigamashu via unanimous decision in a 145 lbs. bout.
2. Lester Caslow recorded a TKO victory at 3:36 of round two over Mike Murray in a match contested at 150 lbs.
3. Charlie Brenneman recorded a unanimous decision victory over Marcello Olivera in a 170 lbs. match.
4. Chris Volo submitted Anderson DeCastro at 1:05 of round one in a heavyweight clash.
5. Matt Makowski scored a TKO victory in his pro MMA debut over Julio Cruz at 1:10 of round two in a 170 lbs. match.
6. Carlos Moreno recorded a TKO over Marcos DeSilva at 0:36 of round one in a battle of heavyweights.
7. Mark Geto won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title after submitting Joe Camacho in round one with a rear naked choke.
8. Dominic Tafuri submitted Ryan McCarthy with a rear naked choke at 3:27 of round one in a lightweight matchup.
9. In the main event, Tim Boetsch won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Light Heavyweight Title when he submitted Brendan Barrett with a guillotine choke at 3:00 of round two.

Notes:

• This show was probably produced for half the cost of Bodog Fight two weeks ago (possibly less) and offered twice the action. A lot of aggressive fighters were booked for the card and a lot of them really pushed the action. There was a strong turnout from a crowd that I would estimate was primarily comprised of friends, family, and training partners of the fighters. I heard one boo and his buddy told him to stop and instead yell “Stand them up.” By and large, a much more well-behaved crowd in a city that wasn’t too far from Trenton. The pacing of the show was also top notch. It was a nine match card that started at 8:30 p.m. ET and was over by 11:30 p.m. ET. In comparison, Bodog had ten fights and started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until 1:30 a.m.

• My “Fight of the Night” honors goes to Lester Caslow vs. Mike Murray bout. The first round was really back and forth and tough to call. It had a nice pace to it with good technique. Caslow took over in the second round and the ref stopped the fight. Murray fought hard and had blood coming out from beneath his eye.

• My “Submission of the Night” would go to Mark Geto, who won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title.

• “Knockout of the Night” goes to the debuting Matt Makowski. Makowski was up against Julio Cruz, who I was told is a black belt in BJJ and trains out of Renzo Gracie’s school in New York. Matt systematically took Cruz a part with lower leg kicks early in the bout. Cruz realized he couldn’t stand with him and made several attempts to get the fight on the ground but Makowski’s takedown defense was impeccable. Cruz got tired, dropped his hands a bit and Makowski then started mixing in high kicks and then knees. He let his hands go in round two and really broke Cruz’s spirit. Matt smelled blood and caught Cruz who backed into the cage. He went in for the kill and just started unloading. Cruz turtled up in a standing position and barely was covering himself and making no attempt whatsoever to answer back. The official jumped in and called the match. Just a very impressive performance and Matt made it obvious that he’s got a big future ahead of him in pro MMA. Matt trains out of the Daddis/MFS Affiliate (full disclosure: I used to train there) in Philly and was undefeated as an amateur and held several regional titles.

• Wilson Reis, who also trains at Daddis/MFS and with BJJ United put on a ground clinic vs. Shigamashu in his debut. Reis, who holds a black belt in BJJ and is one of the best grapplers in the Northeast, immediately shot in for the takedown. He hit his shot and that set the tone for the rest of the bout. Not a lot of striking in the bout but there were multiple submission attempts. Shigamashu had no answer for Reis’ takedowns but was able to reverse position several times on the ground. He threw some decent strikes but the match was still pretty much all Reis. He’s a name to keep your eye on at 145 lbs.

• UFC lightweight fighter Frank Edgar was in the crowd and introduced to the audience. He trains with the Rhino Fight Team in New Jersey. Rhino had a couple of fighters from their school fighting on the card.

• I was also impressed by Geto and Joe Camacho. I was especially impressed by Camacho, even though he came out a little aggressive and got caught in a choke. He was very aggressive and quick and was really pushing the action early on. At one point he caught Geto with a knee and the ref stopped the fight. I thought it was over but the ref then called time and spoke with each fighter and then restarted the bout. My guess is that Camacho delivered an illegal knee. The only thing I think could be possible was that maybe Geto was in a down position? I’m not sure as no official explanation was offered. The refs need hand signals at these events like at a football game. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Camacho fight again as I think he has a lot of potential.

• Dominic Tafuri looked real good in his win as well.

• Charlie Brenneman was announced as the winner of the first season of Joes vs. Pros show on Spike TV.

• This is the same Extreme Challenge that is affiliated with Monte Cox. Ed Hsu was the promoter of record. He also holds many amateur shows under the Combat in the Cage title. Check out CombatInTheCage.com for more info.