One of MMA’s most coveted free agents has found a new home in Bellator Fighting Championships. Former UFC standout Roger “El Matador” Huerta has signed with the promotion and will compete in the eight-man Bellator Lightweight Tournament later this year.
Huerta turned down an offer to return to the UFC and opted to sign with Bellator due to the possibility of competing as many as four times for the promotion in 2010. Huerta won five times in UFC competition in 2007 and later appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Canadian standout Alexis Davis will step in to challenge Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler in the second round of the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. Davis replaces Jennifer “Rosebud” Tate, who withdrew from the tournament after announcing that she was pregnant with her second child.
A light heavyweight showdown between former UFC champions Rich “Ace” Franklin and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is reportedly in the works for UFC 115 in June. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight according to multiple reports from earlier today.
An exciting bantamweight matchup has been added to the upcoming Dream.13 card on March 22nd. Long-time Pancrase standout and former WEC title challenger Yoshiro Maeda will square off with current Tachi Palace Fights Bantamweight Champion Cole “The Triangle” Escovedo.
In the wake of current DEEP Women’s Lightweight (106-Pound) Champion Miku Matsumoto’s abrupt retirement, former champion Hisae Watanabe has officially confirmed plans to return in April. She will face 2009 Girls S-Cup Champion Rena in a shootboxing match on April 11th.
At just 28 years of age, Hawaiian native Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins already sports one of the more impressive records in MMA’s women’s division. Now making her home in Iowa, she has battled her way through the local scene in hopes of getting a chance to showcase her skills in Strikeforce.
After being forced to withdraw from a planned UFC 111 bout due to injury, welterweight contender Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann has agreed to face Brazilian standout Paulo Thiago at UFC 115 in June. The Las Vegas Sun was first to report on the proposed fight.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has secured a long-term broadcast deal with the Hong Kong-based All Sports Network (ASN). The 24-hour sports channel provides high-definition services to nearly a dozen countries in Asia, which expands the UFC’s total coverage to over 100 countries.