How far the mighty fall: Once the UFC’s #1 heavyweight contender, Gabriel Gonzaga will reportedly be facing Team Punishment journeyman Justin McCully in his next bout, at UFC 86 (July 5th, Las Vegas). McCully will be looking for his second win in the Octagon, after defeating Antoni Hardonk by decision at UFC Fight Night 9 in April 2007; he hasn’t competed since then. The match is particularly important for Gonzaga, who’s been on a two-fight skid since knocking out Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70. Not only did Gonzaga lose big matches to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum, he didn’t look impressive in either bout, leading some fans to question his heart. Fighting McCully is Napao’s last chance to redeem himself; if he doesn’t have a successful showing, you can bet he’ll be a victim of the UFC’s ongoing roster cuts.

In other UFC news…

— Due to a busted ankle, Alessio Sakara has been forced to withdraw from The Ultimate Fighter 7 finale (June 21st, Las Vegas). Replacing Sakara in his middleweight bout against Rob Yundt is Rob Kimmons, a 20-3 veteran of an alphabet soup of regional leagues who will be making his UFC debut.

— Yes, you heard that right. Karo Parisyan is the “gatekeeper” of the UFC’s welterweight division, according to Dana White. Ouch, buddy!

— The UFC just sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tito Ortiz for wearing the UFC’s championship belt on the cover of his new autobiography, This Is Gonna Hurt. The belt is “intellectual property of the UFC…as such, its use in promotional materials requires the company’s approval per the terms of its standard contract.” Now who’s the bitch?

“Legionarius” has dropped two of his last three bouts, including his most recent contest against Chris Leben at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion in March, which the Italian fighter lost via technical knockout (strikes) in round one. It was his middleweight debut after registering a very mediocre record at light heavyweight (3-3).

One has to imagine that this is a must-win situation for Sakara.

Yundt — an Alaska Fighting Championship veteran — had the unenviable task of taking a fight on short notice against Brazilian jiu-jitsu stud Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” back in February. He lost that fight (the first of his career) via submission (guillotine choke) in round one.

He, too, needs a win to prove he’s capable of competing on the biggest mixed martial arts stage operating today.

TUF 7 Finale will feature the middleweight showdown between former 185-pound champion, Evan Tanner, and TUF 3 middleweight winner, Kendall Grove. In addition, Diego Sanchez will meet Luigi Fioravanti in a welterweight tilt and the finalists from this season of TUF will meet in the finals to determine the tournament winner.

For the latest TUF 7 Finale fight card click here.

For those of you unaware, the UFC had an event on Saturday - UFC 82. We’ve given you results & commentary, payouts, 7/11 encounters, Chuck-Heads, and more. And to cap off our thoroughly kick-ass coverage of it all, here are the traditional Monday-after suspensions.

The Ohio Athletic Commission has revealed that only four of the fighters from the event have been slapped with medical suspensions. Each of the fighters who got the on-hold ruling lost via KO or TKO, although no broken bones or lacerations were reported. Since, Yushin Okami has been said to have broken his hand while KOing Evan Tanner and Josh Koscheck possibly might have broken his as well while dealing Dustin Hazelett his TKO and subsequent medical suspension.

Evan Tanner pulled a 60-day suspension, while O’Brien, Hazelett and Sakara all got 30-day suspensions. Overall, pretty tame suspensions for a major MMA event.

However, the best suspension announcement was Luke Cummo’s caffeine overload suspension. Fightlinker “broke” the story early today that Luke Cummo had received a three-month suspension for having “extremely elevated caffeine levels beyond anything the commission had ever seen before.”

“Normally we don’t pay that much attention to the level of caffeine in a fighter’s blood,” said OAC commissioner Warren Petty. “But Luke Cummo’s readings were off the chart. At first we thought there must be a mistake with the test, but follow ups showed that our original findings were accurate. This guy must have been tripping balls in the Octagon.”

Oh, you had us until tripping balls, although I wouldn’t put it past the made-up OAC member, Warren Petty, to say something like that. The story went on to say 3-liter coffee enemas were to blame, but luckily MMA Weekly was johnny-on-the-spot and squashed this one - not that anyone was buying it after “tripping balls”. However, OAC executive director Bernie Profato wasn’t too happy about the hoax story and had this to say about the matter:

“I’ll be contacting the state’s Attorney General office (on Tuesday) to see what options we have in this type of matter because this is absolutely not true.”

I’m sure Zuffa will be filing suit soon as well.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien. Feel free to skip past the entire first round.

More fights after the jump…

(more…)

“… if you’ve ever watched any of my fights and compare those to [Alessio Sakara’s] fights you can see when the goings get tough, no matter what, win lose or draw I always bring the fight…. I think [the reason I’m on television and Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez are not because] it’s that probably that those guys are both great fighters but … pretty much every one of my fights is exciting so its not a crap shoot when you are putting me against Sakara whether or not that fight’s gonna be exciting.”

– Chris Leben explains the reason he thinks his middleweight bout against Alessio Sakara at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, is guaranteed to make the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast in an interview with InsideFighting.com. Other notables such as Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez and Andrei Arlovski have their bouts relegated to the non-televised preliminaries.

In fact, the middleweight showdown bumped the welterweight bout between Diego Sanchez and David Bielkheden off the televised portion of the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast.

For more details on the fight between Sakara, which marks his 185-debut, and “The Crippler” click here.

This latest news confirms that there will indeed be 10 bouts for the second-ever card to take place in Columbus. Let’s have one final peek:

Main Event:
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (20-4) vs. Dan Henderson (22-6)

Main card (televised):
265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo (11-3-1) vs. Heath Herring (27-13)
185 lbs.: Alessio Sakara (12-6) vs. Chris Leben (17-4)
185 lbs.: Evan Tanner (32-6) vs. Yushin Okami (21-4)
170 lbs.: Jon Fitch (15-2) vs. Chris Wilson (13-3)

Under card (may not be broadcast):
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski (11-5) vs. Jake O’Brien (10-0)
170 lbs.: Luke Cummo (6-4) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (11-3)
170 lbs.: Josh Koscheck (9-2) vs. Dustin Hazelett (10-3)
170 lbs.: Diego Sanchez (17-2) vs. David Bielkheden (12-5)
155 lbs.: Jorge Gurgel (11-3) vs. John Halverson (16-5)

This shake-up makes some sense — it was hard to explain the reason Koscheck was buried on the prelims even though he defeated Sanchez back in April 2007. “The Nightmare” then lost his next bout to Jon Fitch at UFC 76: “Knockout” later in September.

Having said that, the former winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 1 is a fan favorite and his bout will more than likely be aired between fights if time permits (something tells me the Leben-Sakara fight is not going the distance) and it is an exciting match.

For all the UFC 82-related information you can handle click here.

Sam Caplan from ProElite.com confirmed the rumored match up earlier this afternoon.

The booking is a bit strange for two reasons: Sakara just competed at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” on January 19, giving him less than six weeks between fights (not unheard of but rare). In addition, UFC 82 looks to already have nine fights lined up and this would make it 10 (again, not unheard of but rare).

Regardless, if and when this fight goes down it will more thank likely be an all out slugfest. Sakara is a former Italian professional boxer and Leben is someone who prefers to stand and trade even though is ground game is decent.

Put simply, it’s highly doubtful that this one goes the distance.

Since his Octagon debut in 2005, Sakara has had an up and down tenure (3-3). Those mixed results could be attributed in part to competing in the wrong division, which is among the organization’s deepest.

In addition, his training and conditioning have been other top concerns in the past. However, Sakara recently signed on to work with the prestigious American Top Team (ATT) camp down in South Florida to remedy those shortcomings.

Only time will tell if the adjustments are indeed worthwhile.

Leben is a former contestant on season one of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) who has had some growing pains of his own during his last few appearances. In fact, up until he knocked out a game Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11 he had lost back-to-back fights and three of his last four contests.

There’s a lot on the line for both guys here: Can Leben capitalize on the momentum and make another run to the top or will Sakara steal his thunder and blossom with his new start?

To check out the latest rumored UFC 82 fight card click here.

On a night (or afternoon) where many fans complained of a lack of “exciting” match ups for UFC 80, we were graced with several exciting finishes.

In fact, out of the nine fights on the card only two ended in decision. There were SIX knockouts/technical knockout and one thrilling, blood-soaked submission.

Former welterweight champion BJ Penn solidified his place in history with a dominant win over Joe Stevenson in the main event to earn the vacant lightweight title, becoming just the second person ever to hold a belt in two different divisions (Randy Couture is the other).

It’s an achievement he has been chasing since a loss to then 155-pound champion, Jens Pulver, in 2002 and a disappointing draw with Caol Uno in 2003.

Last night it’s safe to say Penn looked better than he has ever looked in his career. Clearly, he needs to be mentioned with George St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Rampage Jackson as the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

There is a lot in store for Penn in the future. First and foremost, however, we now know that he will defend his belt against former champion Sean Sherk most likely in May.

That match up should be exciting and filled with animosity, especially if the scene inside the Octagon immediately following the championship fight is any indication.

Fireworks.

Looking even farther ahead if Penn beats Sherk then he might be on a b-line for a rematch with St. Pierre. He wants that fight bad. With a win he’d also be the first man to hold two belts in two separate UFC weight classes at the same time.

Clearly, the 170-pound division is stacked. But UFC president Dana White is a shrewd businessman and he knows a big score when he sees one.

Of course, if Penn defeats Sherk he can then fight Kenny Florian (if he can beat Joe Lauzon on April 19). However, if Lauzon wins it’s doubtful that Penn would take on his young student.

St. Pierre vs. Penn II would be one for the ages and I am one of the fans who believe Penn deserved the decision victory in their first encounter.

I for one think this fight NEEDS to happen if all the cards can fall into place.

For now we’ll just all enjoy the ride. “The Prodigy” is at the top of his game and he has declared that Sherk is a “dead man.”

That’s a showdown that can’t come soon enough.

The rest of UFC 80 was extremely interesting and exciting.

In the co feature of the evening Fabricio Werdum weathered the early storm of vicious leg kicks by Gabriel Gonzaga to knockout “Napao” in round two. Gonzaga looked great in the first round, but once again his conditioning was his downfall as he came out in the second stanza looking sloppy and gassed.

Werdum capitalized and put on a much more exciting fight than his previous scrap with Andrei Arlovski to earn some respect in the heavyweight division. Werdum now needs to be considered a top five heavyweight.

Gonzaga needs to re-evaluate his career so that we don’t begin to think he is the man who got lucky with a head kick against Mirko Cro Cop and thats it. I wouldnt mind seeing Gonzaga and Cro Cop tangle again. It’s a rematch that could sell tickets and be extremely interesting.

The rest of the main card action was quick and fast.

Jorge Rivera took his career off life support with a devastating knockout of up-and-comer Kendall Grove. It’s good to see a guy like Rivera get a victory to save his career. How can you not respect a man who is fighting to support his family and not to become a millionaire?

Grove, on the other hand, seems to have let his head become way too big. This latest result is back-to-back devastating losses for Grove. And you have to wonder if he’s training hard enough or if he’s trying to live the superstar life before he’s a superstar.

Usually I wouldnt question a fighters desire, but seeing Grove’s undeniable talent in his three straight victories over Ed Herman, Chris Price and Alan Belcher makes you wonder where his hunger and drive went. The talent is still there, yet hes been knocked out in two straight versus fighters with less talent but more heart.

Hopefully, this will be a wake up call for Grove and his career because he has the talent to be a top caliber fighter in his division.

Wilson Gouveia threw a left hook out of nowhere for a stunning victory over Jason Lambert.

Before the blow Lambert dominated the entire fight from start to finish and had Gouveia on his heels. But he got sloppy and took one on the chin.

This is real tough tough loss for Lambert and an escape for Gouveia. I wouldn’t mind seeing these two fight again.

Marcus Davis showed he should be considered a top five 170-pound fighter. With his dominant knockout over Jess Liaudin, Davis now needs to be mentioned with the big boys after a string of impressive victories.

I for one wouldn’t mind seeing him tangle with Jon Fitch.

Alessio Sakara picked up a much-needed and solid victory over a well respected James Lee. Sakara was being dominated with the ground game; however, he found a way to unload a barrage of right hands and he took the win.

Sakara now should have his career back on track and some momentum heading into his middleweight debut in his next contest. With a few convincing victories there he could work his way towards the top the talent shallow division.

Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor put on a Liddell/Silva-type exchange to start off the fight and set the tone for what was a great fight.

Taylor was sharp on his feet and won the stand up exchanges, but Kelly was also game and never backed down. In the end Kelly’s dominance on the ground proved to be the difference.

Both these fighters should see some more days in the UFC and deservedly so they put on a great fight.

Antoni Hardonk made quick work of Colin Robinson with a vicious leg kick and cross that put Robinson to the ground.

Hardonk was finally able to show his stand up skills that made him a feared heavyweight. However, if he cant develop something that resembles a ground game he will end up being nothing more than a gatekeeper for the heavyweight division.

Sam Stout won a lackluster decision over Per Eklund. And although his standup still looked crisp as usual you have to wonder if Stout will also ever be more than a gatekeeper who’s capable on putting on a great standup show when the match up is right.
All in all it was a great night for MMA.

Tonight’s fights cleared up some of the muddy waters in the heavyweight and welterweight divisions with Werdum and Davis’ wins.

In addition, Penn cemented his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but I think this is just the beginning of the peak of his career great things are still to come.

Take note Sean Sherk. You’re a dead man!

For detailed UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” results hit up or blow-by-blow commentary post right here.

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Quick results of the prelim fights will begin to flow around 1:30 p.m. ET and LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action will start at 3 p.m. ET sharp!

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