With both sides unable to come to terms on a contract, Joe Warren will no longer compete at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 against Japanese legend Rumina Sato. In Warren’s place, his Team Quest teammate Cory “The Savage” Grant will battle Sato at the event.
Lead Shooto promoter Sustain announced that Warren had been removed from the card due to injury, but Warren’s management have since clarified that Warren is not injured and the reason for his withdrawal from the event was due to contractual terms.
With less than 48 hours to go before the event, former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo “Ely” Filho has been removed from the upcoming Olympia Dream.12 card for reasons unknown. Filho’s scheduled opponent, Dong Sik Yoon, will still compete on the card.
Filho has lost just once in his career, but entered a tumultuous time during his WEC tenure. He battled depression and an addiction to painkillers and later checked himself into a rehabilitation facility after losing to Chael Sonnen in a non-title bout.
After Ricardo Almeida suffered a knee injury in training, Thiago Alves has stepped in to rematch fellow top contender Jon Fitch in a featured welterweight bout at UFC 107. Fitch won the pair’s first meeting by TKO at UFC Fight Night 5 back in June of 2006.
Fitch was set to face Almeida at UFC 106, while Alves was slated to battle Brazilian compatriot Paulo Thiago as part of the UFC 107 card, but UFC President Dana White has now confirmed that Alves and Fitch will square off one more time in a pivotal showdown.
Eager to make his Japanese MMA debut, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia has agreed to face reigning Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem at K-1 Dynamite!! 2009 on New Year’s Eve.
Sylvia, who has met with limited success since departing the UFC in early 2008, will look to revive his struggling career at the expense of Overeem, who is currently enjoying a career resurgence of his own as a heavyweight and hasn’t lost in over two years.
In a rematch from their semi-final bout on Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter, Gray “The Bully” Maynard will look to avenge his loss when he meets the ever-confident Nate Diaz in the main event at UFC Fight Night 20 on January 11, 2010 in Fairfax, Virginia.
Diaz submitted Maynard with a guillotine choke in their first meeting, but the loss did not count against Maynard’s record because it took place as part of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Diaz will look to hand Maynard his first professional loss by defeating him once again.
Looking to get back on the winning track after his disputed title loss to Ben “Smooth” Henderson at WEC 43, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is in talks to face heavy hitter Ed “9mm” Ratcliff in a featured lightweight bout at WEC 45 on December 19th in Las Vegas.
The fight, which has been verbally agreed to by both fighters, could serve as the main event of the card. A victory for either fighter will be crucial in getting back into the title hunt for the WEC Lightweight Championship, as both have suffered recent setbacks.
As the promotion prepares for a return in 2010, Bellator Fighting Championships has announced that its second and third seasons will air live on Fox Sports Net and its affiliates. Highlight recaps of the events will air on Saturdays on NBC and in Spanish on the Telemundo network.
The deal will provide the promotion with access to viewers in over 82 million homes on Fox Sports Net. It will cover a total of 24 weeks of competition throughout 2010 as the promotion showcases the second and third seasons of its tournament-based format.
Middleweight submission practitioners Demian Maia and Dan Miller are in talks to square off in a pivotal showdown at UFC 109 in February. With both fighters coming off of setbacks, each will be looking to resume their climb to the top of the division.
The fight is a very interesting one because Maia and Miller are both excellent on the ground, but Miller’s wrestling and striking could prove to be the difference. Both aim to capture UFC title gold and this fight will determine which one will take a big step forward.